THE FAN-TAILED WARBLER. 



weeds, sedges, and other aquatic plants, in the midst of which it 



seeks its food, and nestles so secretly that it very frequently eludes 



observation. Mr. McGillivray found a nest of this species on the 



marshy borders of Duddingston Loch, near Edinburgh. It was 



placed in the midst of a large 



clump of Solatium dulcamara, 



supported by the branches, and 



so hidden that he only found it 



after cutting off a great number 



of flowering twigs. This nest 



was composed of leaves, grasses, 



and other slender plants, loosely 



but neatly put together. 



The Fan-tailed Warbler (Sati- 

 caria cesticola, Fig. 227) closely 

 resembles the preceding. Its 

 sound is loud, cheerful, and much 

 diversified, night being generally 

 selected for the display of its 

 vocal powers. Its nest is com- 

 posed of blades and stalks of 

 grasses, lined with finer plants 

 and hair; is of a conical form, 

 with the apex downwards ; in 

 depth from four to five inches 

 externally, and three in the in- 

 terior, and as much in breadth 

 at the top ; and is fastened to the 

 stalks of several reeds, in a most 

 ingenious way, some distance 

 above the ground an arrangement giving security to the eggs, which 

 are of a brown colour, spotted with dark olive, and usually marked 

 with one or two blackish, irregular lines. 



The charming petite Grasshopper Warbler (Calamodyta locustella) 

 is well worthy of remembrance, although its yearly visits to us may 

 not extend over three months. It has a peculiar power of ventrilo- 

 quism in its voice, which would induce the listener to its silvery note 

 to believe that the producer was close at hand, although in reality a 

 hundred yards off. 



The Tailor Bird, known to French writers as lafauvette couturiere, 

 is most curious in respect to the manner in which it builds its nest. 

 Aided by bill and claws, it stretches out into a thread fibres gathered 



Fig. 227. The Fan-tailed Warbler. 



