THE GRASSHOPPER WARBLER. 347 



but the upper part of the grasshopper bird is mottled brown, 

 and the whole dress has a tinge of that hue which charac- 

 terizes the field birds. When all together, however, it is not 

 like any of them ; but stands alone, in appearance, in voice, 

 and in habits. There can be no harm in calling it Sylvia, 

 because that name may include birds of the brake as well as 

 the tall forest j but Curruca, which some have used, is not 

 very appropriate. Names that have no precise meaning may 

 be used in any way ; but error is always the consequence of 

 an unskilful use of significant ones.* 



The grasshopper bird is about five inches and a half in 

 length, and rather more than seven inches in the stretch of 

 the wings. The bill is a little more produced, and passes 

 more immediately into the line of the forehead than in the 

 sylvan warblers, but less so than in the aquatic. The bill is 

 dusky above and dull white at the base of the lower mandible. 

 The irides are hazel, the legs pale brown, and the claws, 

 which are strong, sharp, and hooked, of the colour of dark 

 horn. The upper part has the centres of the feathers dusky, 

 and the margins brown, with the least trace of green, which 

 brings out each feather distinctly. The tail and primary 

 quills are the same, a shade darker ; and the middle of the 

 wing rather lighter, with a faint trace of yellow. The sides 

 of the neck and the breast are pale yellowish-brown, which 

 brings out the forepart of the closed wing. The colour passes 

 into greenish-white on the belly, and there are a few lines 

 and spots of pale brown on the vent-feathers and under 

 tail-coverts. A dull whitish streak extends from the gape 

 to the eye ; and there is a gorget of the same colour on the 

 chin and point of the neck, which is better defined by being 

 margined with pale brown spots. In the female, the colours 

 are duller, and the gorget on the breast is not so well defined. 

 The forepart is very thickly, and the whole bird very closely, 

 * This species is the Salicaria locustella of Swaiiison. M. 



