88 THE WARBLERS 



then drop to cover once more. So seldom does he fly to any con- 

 siderable distance, we cannot help endorsing Mr. "Warde Fowler's 

 opinion that this bird, as well as several of the other Warblers, would 

 " gradually lose the use of their wings as genuine organs of flight if it 

 were not for the yearly necessities of migration." 1 



The grasshopper-warbler's usual mode of progression is charac- 

 teristic and unique. It runs through the herbage with a smoothness 

 and rapidity that is almost mouselike, but the dainty and graceful 

 manner in which the bird threads its way through intricate foliage lacks 

 the mechanical movements of a mouse. A quick ear will detect the rust- 

 ling of leaves and grasses some time before the grasshopper- warbler itself 

 appears. Often as I have watched this fascinating bird, the exact way 

 in which it glides through a perfect forest of rushes and rank grass 

 still remains a mystery ; but certain it is that the bird runs, and does 

 not hop, and that its movements are more like those of the ghost of 

 a mouse than any living thing. 



Although the plumage of the grasshopper-warbler is not con- 

 spicuous, yet the attitudes which the male assumes when courting are 

 very beautiful. On the approach of a female he spreads out wings 

 and tail till he resembles a small but elegant fan, and the curious 

 rhythmic movement accompanying this display resembles the play of 

 a fan. While there are no brilliant colours to attract, yet the regular 

 dark markings on head and back have a considerable aesthetic value 

 of their own, as each feather is raised or puffed out. At any rate 

 these charms accomplish their purpose ; for although the hen, like all 

 well-conducted females, appears to take no notice of the efforts of the 

 male to attract attention, nevertheless the sober and restrained colour 

 scheme of her lover has its desired effect, and the couple soon settle 

 down to their quiet and sequestered life. Neither gaudy clothes, nor 

 a specially melodious voice in her mate are a necessity to the hen 

 bird's domestic happiness, and both eschew the dubious pleasures of 

 society. 



1 A Year with the Birds, p. 156. 



