WARBLERS 



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insects, and its nest is always placed close to the ground. The river-warbler has 

 a two-syllabled song of great sweetness, which is poured forth from the dense 

 underwood both early and late, but chiefly early, the bird being to a certain extent 

 a ventriloquist, its notes appearing to issue from a spot at some distance from 

 the singer. It is heard all over eastern Europe, as far as Lake Ladoga, although 

 but rarely to the west of the valley of the Danube. Farther eastward the river- 

 warbler is found in western Asia ; and southward its range includes northern 

 Africa. Its annual visit to Europe extends from May to August. 

 Grasshopper- The grasshopper-warbler (L. ncevia) is as much a bird of the 



warbler. fields as f the forest, frequenting forests with much underwood and 

 not too many high trees, but 

 also found in woods broken up 

 by clearings, covered with grass 

 and sedges and brambles, in 

 clumps of willows, in pastures 

 and arable fields, often at a 

 great distance from any con- 

 siderable body of water. This 

 warbler arrives in Europe 

 about the end of Ma}^, nests 

 in the middle of July, and 

 leaves in the first half of Sep- 

 tember. Although on migration 

 it is often found in and near 

 reeds close to willows, it never 

 breeds in such situations. 

 Keeping more carefully out of 

 sight than any of its kind, it 

 is one of the most restless of 

 birds, creeping in a curiously 

 mouse-like manner along the 

 ground and climbing up and 

 down the slender stems of 



plants in search of larvae. Insects form its principal food, and it is said to have 

 a preference for dragon-flies, which it takes on the wing. Its name is derived 

 from its song, which is like the chirping of some unusually persistent grass- 

 hopper. The grasshopper-warbler is just 6 inches long, and may be distinguished 

 by its greenish brown colour and striped back, its want of an eye-stripe, and its 

 barred and rounded tail. The throat is brownish white, and the under tail- 

 coverts are huffish white with dark middles. It nests in central Europe and 

 ranges farther west than any other warbler. Rare in Italy, Switzerland, and the 

 south of France, in England and Wales it is widely distributed but not abundant ; 

 in Holland, Denmark, and Holstein, in short throughout the north German 

 lowlands, it is common, as it also is in the east of Germany and eastern Europe 

 generally. In Asia it is found so far east as the Altai Mountains. It winters 

 in southern Europe, southern Asia, and north-east Africa. The nest is compact. 



GRASSHOPPER-WARBLER. 



