26 THE WARBLERS 



collection, taken at Winchelsea on 8th and llth August 1902, and several seen 

 during a migration of other warblers near Rye on the 18th August 1905, all the 

 records occur during the latter half of September and beginning of October. From 

 its skulking habits and close resemblance to a sedge-warbler this species is doubt- 

 less often overlooked, and it probably visits us in small numbers every autumn, 

 [j. L. B.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. 1 Nesting place : in willow bushes or clumps of sedge, 

 generally close to the ground in marshy places. The nest is very similar to that of 

 the sedge-warbler, but is said to be rather smaller and deeper, built of bents, grasses, 

 etc., mixed with cobwebs and down, and lined generally with hair and a few feathers 

 at times. What part the cock takes in nest-building appears not to be recorded. 

 Eggs, 4 to 6 in number, resembling those of the sedge-warbler and running into 

 similar variations of colour, but the pink variety seems not to occur. Average size 

 of 52 eggs, *67 x -51 in. [17 x 13 mm.]. The breeding season is stated by Naumann 

 to be earlier than that of the sedge-warbler in Germany, but our information with 

 regard to this species is still very defective. The same authority gives the incuba- 

 tion period as 13 days, and observes that the cock sits little. Probably only one 

 brood is reared as a rule. [F. c. B. J.] 



5. Food. Insects and their larvae, and the young are probably fed on the 

 same by both parents, [w. r.J 



6. Song Period. According to Naumann (Vogel Mitteleuropas, ii. 45) from 

 April till July. [w. F.] 



GRASSHOPPER- WARBLER [Locustella, ncevia (Boddaert). Heeler, 

 cricket-bird. French, bee-fin locustelle ; German, Heuschreckensdnger ; 

 Italian, forapaglie macchiettato.~\ 



I. Description. The grasshopper- warbler may be distinguished from the 

 sedge-warbler on the one hand, and the aquatic-warbler on the other, by its duller, 

 more olive, coloration, the absence of a conspicuous superciliary stripe, and the slight 

 barring of the tail. (PL 56.) There are slight sexual differences of coloration. 

 The male is of a uniform reddish olive-brown above, each feather having a blackish 

 brown centre forming an elongate spot, conspicuous on the crown and back, and 

 arranged in a series of longitudinal lines ; faint markings are also discernible on the 

 hind-neck and upper tail-coverts, especially after the feathers have become somewhat 

 abraded by wear. There is a faint superciliary stripe, whitish, and tinged with olive- 

 1 These particulars are given as the bird may prove to breed. 



