GRASSHOPPER WARBLER, 
83 
When a sight of it can be procured, which is very rarely the 
case, this little bird may be known by its slender form, and 
by its long and cuneiform tail. It occasionally may be seen, 
for a moment, on the lower branches of a tree or shrub in 
a close thicket, but soon again conceals itself. When on 
the ground, it runs very fast, and with much grace, in the 
manner of the meadow pipit; it also climbs up and descends 
with great agility the reeds and sedges among which it 
dwells, in the manner of the rest of its tribe. 
The note of the Grasshopper Warbler is very remarkable, 
and exactly resembles the noise made by the mole cricket, 
or the music of the large green grasshopper. This singular 
note may be sometimes heard to continue for two or three 
minutes without cessation, and may be distinguished at a 
considerable distance. Morning, noon, and night may this 
sound be heard, at intervals, during the early part of sum¬ 
mer, but more especially at night. Later in the season, 
its song is chiefly confined to the hours of darkness; and 
this is probably the period when the young nestlings require 
the attention of the parent, at which time most singing birds 
are silent. 
This little bird has been seen to creep out of its hiding- 
place, in a close and matted thorn, and running to the 
extremity of a naked branch, deliver its singular song, and 
then hastily retreat, by the same branch, into its dark re¬ 
cess. The female conceals herself still more assiduously 
than the male, so that a specimen of that sex can very 
seldom be obtained. 
It is said that the only means of procuring a nest and 
eggs of this species is to listen to the nocturnal cry of the 
male during the month of June, as it is at that time most 
likely to be uttered in the vicinity of the nest. We have 
never been fortunate enough to obtain one of these rare 
little specimens, and can, therefore, only speak of and 
