A Grasshopper Warbler. 159 



but one spell of it lasted for forty seconds by my 

 watch. It is said to continue sometimes for as 

 much as twenty minutes, but I have never been 

 fortunate enough to hear it for anything approach- 

 ing to that length of time. 



Our interview was not to last very long. It 

 unluckily happened that my little terrier, who ac- 

 companies me in all my walks, and is trained to 

 come to heel when anything special is to be ob- 

 served, had been out of sight when I broke the 

 hedge ; and now he must needs come poking and 

 snuffing through the saplings just as if a Grass- 

 hopper Warbler were as fair game as a mole or a 

 water rat. Nevertheless, so astonishing was the 

 boldness of this bird that he allowed the dog to 

 hunt about for some time around him without 

 being in the least disconcerted. 1 When at last he 

 made off he retreated in excellent order, merely 

 half flying, half creeping with his fan-like tail dis- 

 tended, until he disappeared in the thick under- 

 wood. I would have taken the dog under my 



1 In May this year (1886) I nearly trod upon a pair of these 

 birds, near the same wood : yet they showed no fear, allowed 

 me to approach them within six paces, and continued to reel 

 close at hand. 



