224 



GRASSHOPPER WARBLER. 



of the bird, and the artful manner in which it conceals its nest, it is 

 rarely found ; nor has any author noticed it. 



We have found it in Hampshire, in South Wales, and in Ireland, but 

 no where so plentiful as on Malmsbury Common, in Wiltshire, to which 

 place the males come about the second week in April. At this time 

 only they expose themselves upon the top branches of the furze, and 

 are continually making their singular chirping notes, their only song. 

 In this situation we have killed several. 



* Some confusion has arisen respecting this bird, from an idea that it 

 is a lark, and not a Warbler. It is, however, in every respect dis- 

 similar in character and habits. It has no long claw behind, resides in 

 thickets, and is incapable of running on the ground like a lark, but 

 moves by hopping, so that the confusion can only arise from ignorance 

 of the bird's habits. 



Montagu was not able to trace this species far north, nor in the south- 

 eastern counties, the borders of Gloucestershire and Hampshire being 

 its utmost range, and from thence probably in all the western counties, 

 as he found it in Ireland. During the whole course of a tour from 

 Bath to London, and thence through the eastern counties, and again 

 from Lincolnshire to Somersetshire, undertaken during the spring, the 

 well-known note of this bird never once assailed his ears, although the 

 other migrative species of the same genus, were heard in various 

 parts. In the same year, several species were observed about Kings- 

 bridge, one of which was shot by Mr. Vaughan, and placed in his col- 

 lection. 



" It is very rare," says Mr. Sweet," in the neighbourhood of London, 

 and I have never seen more than a single living one, which I caught in 

 a trap about the middle of August, 1823, in the Five Fields, near 

 Grosvenor Place. I kept it till the February following, when it died 

 from cold caught by washing itself. It never attempted to sing."' I 

 have frequently met with it in Scotland, in the haugh at Musselburgh, 

 and in Ayrshire, where its singular note has been strangely mistaken 

 for the sound of the Rattle Snake ; and Selby informs us that he has 

 found it in several parts of Northumberland, where it was found to 

 haunt low and damp situations, overgrown with furze, bramble, and 

 underwood. Besides its natural grinding note, this bird has been said 

 to utter a very agreeable warble, and the male to entertain his mate 

 with a nocturnal song. On the contrary, we believe it has no other 



1 Sweet's Brit. Warblers, p. 12. 



