NOTES AND QUERIES. Ill 



no eggs have been deposited, and, though the male continued to sing 

 in the vicinity for more than a week after, no traces of a female have 

 ever been seen. It may be assumed, therefore, that the nest was 

 constructed entirely by the male bird, which for some reason, most 

 probably because of a scarcity of females, never paired. The case 

 may be exceptional, and merely due to circumstance, or it may 

 illustrate the general custom. Naturally, where males and females 

 are equally represented, it would require a great amount of observa- 

 tion to definitely decide whether one sex only in this or any other 

 species is concerned with nest building. — Walter Greaves (Hebden 

 Bridge, Yorks). 



The Grasshopper-Warbler (Locustella nsevia). — While sailing on 

 the Norfolk Broads a few days ago we perforce became quite familiar 

 with the song of the Grasshopper- Warbler. One of these shy little 

 birds was singing near the river not far from Wroxham, when I 

 sallied forth with a candle-lantern one evening about 11 p.m. It 

 was quite dark, and my intention was to catch a glimpse of this 

 Warbler, so elusive when approached in the sunny hours. When 

 within a yard of my quest, to judge by the sound, I passed the 

 lantern under and around a solitary bush from which the song 

 appeared to originate, but my action, however, failed to reveal the 

 form of the songster. I then gently pulled aside a projecting twig, 

 and was startled, not to say chagrined, by the flutter of a soft wing 

 against my hand, but it was not long before the stridulous notes 

 began again on the other side of the bush. This time, after creeping 

 carefully round and peering with the lantern into a gap in the foliage, 

 I was rewarded by a perfect view of the Warbler perched on a branch 

 not more than two feet in front of me, and pouring forth its lonely 

 torrent of song. As it sang the bird's throat quivered continuously, 

 but the rest of its body was absolutely motionless. In a moment, 

 however, a movement of mine caused it to turn about, and I was 

 able to make a detailed observation from the side. In the act of 

 singing the head is tilted upwards, while the tail is slightly de- 

 pressed, perhaps by way of compensation. The legs are fully bent 

 forwards, lying in close contact with the body wall. The singing 

 position is thus rather a crouching than a craning attitude. The 

 twig selected for a stance was situated towards the centre of the 

 bush, and not easily visible from outside. At first, while watching, 

 I held the lantern just to one side of my head, and possibly the light 

 may have partially dazzled the bird, and thus covered my move- 

 ments. In this connection it was most interesting to find that, 



