194 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE. 



GRASSHOPPER WARBLER, Salicaria locustella. 

 Is very partially distributed, being rare even in 

 some districts which would appear well suited to 

 its habits. I have explored many acres of furze 

 and extensive commons in the weald, without being 

 able to detect its presence by sound or sight. It 

 is very rare in the neighbourhood of Brighton and 

 Hastings, but has frequently been obtained near 

 Chichester. I know one heathy common about a 

 mile from Petworth, interspersed with patches of 

 thorn and gorse, where several pairs of these birds 

 may be heard every summer; but although my 

 patience has often been rewarded by occasional 

 glimpses of the little feathered chirpers as they 

 crept, mouse-like, among the stalks of the furze 

 and fern, I never succeeded in discovering their 

 nest or eggs. 



SEDGE WARBLER, Salicaria phragmitis. Com- 

 mon where low drains with sedgy banks, or brooks 

 bordered with thick bushes occur, or wherever 

 moist and damp situations encourage a profusion 

 of aquatic herbage. 



REED WARBLER, Salicaria arundinacea. Par- 

 tially distributed, and everywhere less numerous 

 than the last-named species. Was formerly of 

 frequent occurrence on Pevensey Levels, but since 

 the clearing out of many of the reed beds, has 

 almost disappeared from that neighbourhood. 



