210 WILD NATURE'S WAYS. 



Concerning this ornithological gem, I would in 

 all respect say to those whom I may call the 

 black sheep of the collecting flock. Do have 

 mercy. If your zeal demands a clutch of eggs, 

 take one, but do not add three or four more to 

 your cabinet. Remember that to help in the 

 least degree to accomplish the extinction of 

 anything beautiful and interesting is a crime 

 against future generations, and the man who 

 deliberately robs posterity of a pleasure is guilty 

 of the most pitiful kind of selfishness. 



The grasshopper warbler belongs to the second 

 class of birds mentioned in the opening page of 

 the present chapter. It is much and unmis- 

 takably heard especially during calm summer 

 evenings, but not often seen, excepting in the 

 early hours of the morning, when I think, out of 

 dislike for the dew-laden vegetation, it mounts 

 the topmost branch of some sallow bush or 

 advantageously high reed stem to exercise its 

 vocal organs. I have watched it turning its 

 head from side to side in the first rosy blush of 

 sunrise, whilst the grasshopper-like notes trickled 

 from its quivering throat in one long, unbroken 

 stream. 



Although common on the Norfolk Broads, 

 where its notes may be heard to the greatest 

 advantage on account of the almost unbroken 

 peace and stillness, water is not such an essential 



