THE WARBLERS 1675 



pair taking up its residence in some sequestered nook either on a heath on the mar- 

 gin of large woods or in the bottom of a deep hedge. On its first arrival the hedges 

 are generally bare or nearly so, a circumstance which naturally facilitates the obser- 

 vation of the movements of this shy bird. Both the male and female sing, but most 

 of the ventriloquizing efforts proceed from the male bird. The grasshopper warbler 

 sings its curious song principally during the early hours of day and shortly before 

 dusk, although it would be a mistake to suppose that it does not sing at other times, 

 for it often sings lustily in the middle of the day. The nest is cunningly concealed 

 in thick herbage; the best plan of discovering its whereabouts being to visit the 

 spot, which the birds are known to frequent, shortly before sunset. If every likely 

 corner be thus explored with the aid of a long stick, the female will almost certainly 

 be detected in the act of slipping off her eggs, creeping away through the under- 

 growth with the stealth and rapidity of a mouse. The eggs are pinkish white 

 freckled with darker reddish brown. The adult male has the upper parts olive 

 brown with dark centres to the feathers, while the chin and centre of the belly are 

 white, shading into buffish brown on the breast and flanks. 



Among the finest of European songsters is the river warbler (Z,. 

 ** flwoiatilis) of Eastern Europe, which spends the summer months on 

 .the shores of the Elbe, the Danube, and other large rivers, where it frequents thick- 

 ets and dense undergrowth, building a cup-shaped nest of dry stems. The eggs are 

 grayish white, spotted with reddish brown. The song for w 7 hich the river warbler 

 is remarkable has been compared to the chirping of grasshoppers; during the early 

 hours of the day the bird sometimes sings in exposed situations, but under ordinary 

 circumstances skulks in the most impenetrable thickets. Both sexes have the upper 

 parts uniformly dark olive brown with a scarcely perceptible eye stripe, the under 

 parts being grayish brown, shading into white on the throat and belly. 



Savi' Warbler ^ ne ^ t ^ ie rarer anc * more interesting of European warblers is the 

 little obscurely colored bird known as Savi's warbler (L. luscinoides) , 

 which nests in Holland, building a nest of blades of dry sedge firmly interwoven, 

 which cannot well be mistaken for that of any other bird. The eggs are white, 

 sprinkled with ashy-brown spots. In the Rhone marshes this bird may be observed 

 actively running up and down the reeds, occasionally uttering a curious cry which 

 has been compared to that of a tree frog. The male has the upper parts uniform 

 russet brown, and the under parts are pale buffish brown, shading into nearly white 

 on the centre of the throat and belly. 



Cetti's warbler (Bradypterus cettii} may be taken as the best-known 



. 



European representative of another large group of genera differing 

 from all the foregoing in having only ten (in place of twelve) tail 

 feathers. As the number of these genera is far too large to be even mentioned here, 

 it will suffice to say that Cetti's warbler holds a high position among the song birds 

 of Southern Europe, and that it passes the summer in the Mediterranean region, 

 inhabiting close and impenetrable covert during its summer sojourn. It builds its 

 nest of dry stems and blades of grass in the neighborhood of water. The eggs are 

 brilliant red and without any spots. In some parts of its range Cetti's warbler is 

 resident throughout the year. It sings in every month, and it is somewhat startling 



