ON SAVrS WARBLER. 225 



nest, the diligent work really must be declared wonderful; for the nest 

 consists of broad carefully interwoven leaves of the reed, and it is so polished 

 inside that the eggs roll. An inexperienced person would take it for the 

 nest of the smallest Moor-hen, so much is it similar to this, only smaller. 

 The greater number of the nests are pointed, broad above, quite conical, 

 4" high, 3" 6'" broad, 2" 6'" deep. The depth varies much— from 2" 6'" to 

 3" 9'". The deepest must excite admiration ; they are hardly 2" 6'" broad, 

 and one can scarcely believe that the breeding female touches the eggs with 

 its belly. 



I often observed, when these tender birds build their nest, how 

 troublesome it is for them to bring the material together. In the beginning 

 this is done by male and female ; later the female does it alone, while the 

 male takes the leaves from the bill of the female and alone continues weavino^. 

 The male is gay and diligent at work, and continually utters the monotonous 

 " hrrr, hrrr." 



The call of both male and female is like that of S.Jluviatilis — a short ''krr." 

 This noise has an agreeable tone ; far off it appears to be in one's own ear. 

 He who has heard, on fat morasses, the noise of the bubbles which quickly 

 ascend to the surface of the water, can well imagine the song of Calamoherpe 

 luscinioides. Often the sound is higher or lower, without the dominating 

 " r ;" just as if one repeated quickly the letters " gl, gl, gl, ffl, gl." Here, as 

 in S.Jluviatilis, the voice has the singularity that it misleads the ear; for 

 often one attempts to follow the sound in a wrong direction. They sing 

 high or low, but sit quiet, the head bent somewhat back, the neck stretched, 

 the throat much dilated : the exertion is evident. 



During the breeding- season the song is continued diligently the whole 

 day, till sunset ; later, in the night, I did not hear it. 



2k 2 



