GBASSHOPPEB- WABBLE B 



horizontal branches of very small dimensions is really very 

 graceful ; one wonders how they keep their balance and 

 yet preserve such a very aristocratic appearance. Climbing 

 in this way up some bush — crawling, perhaps, is a better 

 description — their whole appearance is peculiarly mouse-like, 

 especially as wood-mice are themselves very fond of climbing 

 up and sitting in small bushes, such as hazel, elder, &c. 



The nest, composed principally of dried grass interwoven 

 with dead leaves and bracken, is, even when the young are 

 hatched, most difficult to find. Placed sometimes almost on 

 the ground, sometimes a few feet above it, it may be found in 

 very different situations, such as in the centre of a clump of 

 Juncus efftcsus, underneath a thick mass of the same rush 

 overhanging a small watercourse, in the middle of clumps of 

 long dead grass, and low down in thick gorse bushes. During 

 incubation, which lasts about sixteen days, the female seldom 

 leaves the nest. I once, in June, saw a pair playing with 

 one another as it was getting light, between two and three 

 o'clock in the morning ;. they were chasing one another, and 

 the female settled and rested awhile on a branch quite close 

 to me. When disturbed on her nest she will slip off quietly 

 on to the ground and be quickly concealed, but if not too much 

 alarmed will return, threading her way through the grass in 

 the same stealthy manner. If lucky enough to find a nest 

 with young, watch closely the parent birds ; time thus spent 

 will by no means be wasted. One nest, I remember, placed 

 low down in a gorse bush, and in a great measure hidden 

 by long grass, gave me an exceptional opportunity of doing 

 this. The locality I found by luck, for, when walking close 

 by, one of the parent birds was disturbed and flew out, but 

 it was only with considerable difficulty that I found the 

 actual nest. Crawling under the gorse and lying flat was 

 useless, as one or other of the birds would walk within a few 

 feet of my face and stare ; to stand up seemed hopeless, but 

 nevertheless it ultimately succeeded, and while I was 

 remaining perfectly still, patiently enduring torments caused 



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