GRASSHOPPER-WARBLER 



but perhaps those most frequented are osier-beds, which a 

 year or so previously have been cut down ; small coppices 

 with plenty of thick undergrowth ; spaces in large woods 

 where timber has lately been felled, and where consequently 

 scrubby bushes and luxuriant vegetation abound ; waste land 

 covered with gorse ; sw T ampy, but not too wet, ground with an 

 abundance of Juncus effusus ; clover fields and thick hedge- 

 rows either by the roadside or next to fields of corn ; thick 

 undergrowth of some description seems, however, to be a 

 necessity. 



On their arrival the males can easily be detected by their 

 song — for applying the w T ord "song" to the vocal efforts of 

 my friends I must apologise, I know not what other word 

 describes it — which when once heard can never be forgotten, 

 and from which they have earned the name " Grasshopper " ; 

 yet when with bill wide open and body quivering they utter 

 their monotonous " reel" there is little resemblance to the 

 insect. A more minute knowledge of their ways is required to 

 enable one to appreciate whence the name originated. They 

 are by no means difficult birds to approach, and with ordinary 

 precaution it is possible to get concealed quite close to them, 

 and to hear the low whisperings from which they take their 

 name. Let us suppose for a moment we are concealed within 

 a few yards of one of them. There, on a branch low down 

 in some nut-bush, he sits wrapped in meditation ; now he 

 commences to sing, and the power thus expended is apparent 

 from the vibration, which is becoming almost painful to the 

 ears, when he stops, and in turn in the far distance we hear 

 others answering, first on one side, then on another. But 

 watch him closely ; with throat still distended and bill slightly 

 open, he turns his head from side to side, and the sounds 

 from our imaginary birds in the distance coincide with the 

 turning of his head; thus the truth dawns upon us. He is 

 certainly a wonderful ventriloquist, and though perhaps not 

 conscious of his powers, yet he is most deceptive, and I 

 have often been puzzled when trying to locate his position, 



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