BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND. 



437 



tlie inaccuracy of all descriptions written from mere analogy, or, what 

 is very improbable, the habits of the grasshopper warbler on the conti- 

 nent differ essentially from the habits of the same species in this 

 country, I could point out,, however, a number of other similar inaccu- 

 racies in the Manuel d'Ornithoiogie, if there were necessity for so 

 doing, but shall here merely remark, that however high M. T em- 

 mi nek's authority may stand on other points, and I have not the 

 slightest shadow of a wish to detract from his real merits, still what 

 little he says on the manners and habits of birds, is by no means to be 

 implicitly relied on. The grasshopper warbler, though it belongs most 

 decidedly to the genus of aquatic warblers (Phragmites), the habits of 

 which, in most instances, are such as M. Temminck has described those 

 of this species to be, is never found (like its congeners) on the borders 

 of streams and ditches, but upon open moors and commons, overgrown 

 with brambles, furze, and underwood ; sometimes, it is true, haunting 

 low damp situations, but not unfrequently places where no signs of 

 moisture are visible. 



The aquatic warblers (Phragmites) are a very distinct group from 

 tlie Ficedulce, and resemble more, in their manners, the pettychaps or 

 willow-wren genus {Sylvia). They are distinguished by having the 

 forehead and crown remarkably low, and flat ; the wings, in most 

 species, very short, and rounded ; the tail invariably wedge-shaped ; 

 in some instances rather long ; the bill strong, often much dilated at 

 the base, and, in some species rather longer than in most of the 

 Sylvian a; ; the aperture straight, and anterior to the eye — not, as in 

 the Ficedulce, descending with a curvature below the eye. The plu- 

 mage is generally sombre, of different shades of olive ; in some species 

 plain, in others more or less marked with spots of a darker colour, and 

 sometimes a light streak over the eye. The species are pretty nume- 

 rous, and appear divisible into two or three sections, in one of which 

 might be comprised (with various other species) the reed and sedge 

 warblers of this country ; and another might be formed, to contain 

 the grasshopper warbler, and probably, also, the Sylvia certhiola of 

 M. Temminck. They chiefly frequent marshy places, and the borders 

 of lakes and rivers ; are all, I believe, migratory, and very shy and 

 impatient of being observed. The nest, in the three British species, 

 varies considerably in structure and situation ; the birds, indeed, are 

 not what is commonly called very ci nearly allied." Speaking how- 

 ever, of the genus generally, the nest is usually formed of the coarser 

 grasses, and the seed-tops of reeds, with sometimes a little moss, and 



VOL. I. — NO. X. (OCTOBER, 1833.) K K 



