SAVrS WARBLER. 349 



be watched without leaving it. If frightened offj they soon return. During 

 the breeding-season Savins Warbler is rarely seen on the wing; but early in 

 spring it sometimes flies up from the reeds and dives down into them again 

 with wings laid back. It is said not to sing on the wing. When it does 

 take wing its flight is said not to be undulating, but with continuous beats 

 of the wing, like the flight of a Wren or a hawk moth. It is not known 

 that Savi's Warbler feeds upon any thing but insects and their larvae. 



The eggs vary in number from four to six. They are French white or 

 pale buff in ground-colour, thickly sprinkled over the entire surface with 

 ashy-brown spots, most numerous at the larger end of the egg, where they 

 usually form an obscure zone. The pale violet-grey underlying markings 

 are numerous ; and on some eggs there are a few very dark, irregular, hair- 

 like streaks. In many specimens the indistinct zone of colour is largely 

 composed of underlying spots, giving the eggs a scarcely perceptible pink 

 appearance in this part. The eggs of Savins Warbler somewhat closely 

 approach those of the Grrasshopper Warbler, but are always browner. 

 From certain varieties of the eggs of the allied L. fluviatilis they are 

 absolutely undistinguishable. They vary in length from '8 to "75 inch 

 (Professor Newton gives a measurement of '84), and from '6 to '55 inch in 

 breadth. 



Savi's Warbler has the general colour of the upper parts uniform russet- 

 brown, slightly duskier on the quills, and somewhat paler on the outside web 

 of the second primary. The underparts are pale bufiish brown, shading 

 into nearly white on the throat and the centre of the belly ; the under 

 tail-coverts are pale chestnut, with obscure paler tips. Bill dark brown 

 above, pale horn-colour below ; legs, feet, and claws pale brown ; irides 

 hazel. It is not known that the sexes diff'er in plumage, or that the 

 autumn moult produces any change of colour. Birds of the year are said 

 to be less rufous on the upper parts and paler underneath. 



Savins Warbler may be distinguished from its near ally L. fluviatilis by 

 its russet-brown upper parts (which in that species are olive-brown), and by 

 the absence of the striations on the breast so conspicuous in the latter 

 species. 



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