80 
SYLVIAD.E. 
LVSESSOHES. 
DENTIROSTBES. SYLVIADjE. 
PLATE LXI. 
GRASSHOPPER WARBLER. 
Salicaria locustella. 
The small family of aquatic warblers in which the present 
species is comprised, has only three representatives in our coun¬ 
try. These birds, which have been separated by Temminck 
from the sylvan warblers, under the title of “ riverain,” and for 
whom Selby has proposed the generic name of Salicaria, are 
in form, habits, manners, and song, very dissimilar from 
those that precede and follow them, and consequently form 
a distinct and remarkable little group. In their habits they 
are strictly aquatic : the present species resides chiefly among 
bogs, marshes, and ponds, while the two that follow are 
mostly found on the margin of rivers, among reeds and osiers. 
In their song these birds are far less gifted than most other 
families of the warblers ; and are later in their time of arrival 
than any other of our British small birds. 
The Grasshopper Warbler, rendered partially rare by its 
local distribution and retired habits, appears not to have been 
much known to our earlier British writers on ornithology. 
It is not included, we believe, in the first editions of Bewick ; 
and Montagu speaks of himself as the first author who has 
noticed its nest. It is said, however, to have been described 
and known in more remote times, and afterwards to have 
been disregarded. 
