354 BRITISH BIRDS. 



one of the marsh-drains, out of which it ran on to the 

 short grass of the adjoining field. I watched it for a short 

 time as it ran about the ground like a mouse, and I noticed 

 that it kept its tail depressed, and not erected over the 

 back, as is usually the case with the Grasshopper- Warbler 

 (Locustella ncevia) when running over open ground. 

 At one time it flew up to a barbed-wire post close by, 

 up which it climbed with the facility of a Tree-Creeper. 

 It soon flew back to the ground, and I shot it just as it 

 reached the long grass again. Unfortunately the bird 

 was much shattered by the shot, and I had great difficulty 

 in making a skin of it. It proved to be a male, and 

 I think adult, and was excessively fat. 



In appearance this bird is considerably smaller than 

 the Grasshopper- Warbler. (The wing measures 56 mm. 

 as against 60-66 in L. ncevia.) In the colour of the 

 upperparts it closely resembles that bird, but the dark 

 centres of the feathers are larger and more clearly 

 defined, and the uppersurface of the wings is a trifle 

 more rufous. The underparts are thickly spotted with long- 

 shaped blackish spots or streaks on a nearly white ground ; 

 the spots on the middle of the breast being larger and 

 rounder than those on the throat and flanks. There 

 is a slight tinge of buff on the lower throat. The beak 

 had the base of the lower mandible pale yellow, the rest 

 horn-colour. The legs and feet were white, with a very 

 faint tinge of flesh-colour ; claws white. 



The autumn migration was practically over, and the 

 only birds moving were a few Fieldfares, Redwings and 

 Blackbirds. The weather at the time was very cold, 

 with heavy showers, and a strong E.N.E. wind. There 

 had been sharp frosts every night for a week, as much as 

 nine degrees on the 15th and 16th, but only three degrees 

 on the night of the 17th. The whole of the summer 

 and autumn was characterised by the prevalence of 

 north-west winds, and the consequent almost complete 

 absence of visible migration. 



The Lanceolated Warbler does not appear to have 



