GRASSHOPPER-WARBLER 93 



to have left the marshy grounds, but sticks closely to the wildest 

 and most inaccessible reed-beds. Its curiously shaped nest, however, 

 was known to the sedge cutters long before the bird itself was identi- 

 fied. They called it the "Brown" "Red" or " Night-reeler." It 

 arrived about the middle of April, and at its first coming was not 

 shy until actually nesting. 1 



About the middle or end of May nidification began, and the eggs 

 were laid towards the close of that month or the beginning of June. 

 The nest was cup-shaped and deep, with a large foundation placed 

 low in the sedge : it was composed throughout of dry sedge-blades, 

 and these so firmly entwined that the structure was very lasting. 

 Lining there was none, but the leaves forming the inside were some- 

 what finer than those of the exterior. Count Casimir Wodzicki 

 likens its nest to that of a moor-hen in miniature. He gives 

 also a graphic account of its habits. It is never for a moment 

 still, now on the ground, now on a reed ; in spring it will 

 flutter in the air like a whitethroat and creep along a reed-stem 

 from below to the tip. It is passionate and pugnacious ; in the 

 breeding time following its mate or rival to the very feet of the 

 observer. Both sexes take part in incubation, and sit so closely 

 on the nest that they may be easily studied. 2 



Mr. Salvin, who observed it in Algeria, says " On approach- 

 ing the margin of the reeds, its peculiar rattling note might 

 be heard in any direction. The bird when uttering this cry 

 climbs to the very tip of a reed, often choosing the tallest, where 

 it sits, if not disturbed, for several minutes without changing 

 its position. In this locality the nests can only be found by 

 wading in mud and water up to the middle, and then it is quite 

 a chance to find one" (Ibis, 1859, p. 304). 



Mr. Jourdain, who has met with this species in Holland and 

 Spain, tells me that the male is very tame and confiding " He will 

 perch on the top of a big reed and reel away with widely open mouth 



1 Yarrell, vol. i. p. 395. 2 Journal fur Omithologie, 1853. Extraschrift, p. 50. 



