that of Savi’s or of the Grasshopper Warbler. About the first week in May of the following year, a bird, agreeino- 
exactly in note and appearance with the above, was also seen by this marshman in a small sallow bush; not having 
his gun with him, he watched it for some time, and had no doubt of its identity. From the occurrence of this 
species in one or two instances in the middle of summer, there is little doubt that it had occasionally nested in our 
marshes ; indeed a nest in the collection of Mr. Newcombe, of Feltwell, presented to him by the Rev. J. Burroughes, 
Avas said to have been found near Yarmouth. It is also most probable that, although so rarely recognized in this 
country, others may have been shot, and mistaken as the first was, by Temminck, for varieties of the Reed- Warbler, 
since the two species at first sight are very similar ; but Savi’s is not only a larger bird, but in the reddish tints of the 
upper parts more resembles the Nightingale. The following remarks upon the habits of this rare species as 
observed by Mr. Osbert Salvin in the Eastern Atlas, which appeared in the ‘ Ibis ’ for 1859 , p. 304 , will probably 
be read with interest, from the perfect confirmation they afford of the accuracy of the above descriptions : — ‘ I 
found this bird abundant in the marsh of Zana. On approaching the margin of the reeds, its peculiar rattling 
note might be heard in every direction. The bird, when uttering this cry, climbs to the very top of a reed, often 
choosing the tallest, where it sits, if not disturbed, for several minutes, Avithout changing its position. When 
singing, the head is moved slowly from side to side, by which means it may be that the ventriloquism ascribed 
to the Grasshopper Warbler is produced, the. apparent change of position of the bird being, in fact, a change in 
the direction in which the sound of its voice is thrown. On taking alarm, the songster drops instantly into the 
thickest sedge, when pursuit is hopeless, as it carefully eludes observation, never showing itself in open flight ; 
sometimes, however, its course may be traced by the shaking of the reeds as it springs from one to another. 
The peculiar nest of this species, a beautifully compact structure, composed entirely of dead flag, is artfully con- 
cealed in the thickest parts, and at Zana it can only be found by wading in mud and water up to the middle ; and 
even then it is quite a chance to find one.’ ” 
Mr. Stevenson remarks that, as the sale of Bullock’s Museum took place in 1819, the specimen submitted 
to Temminck Avas very probably killed in that year, and at all events could not haA^e been obtained later, 
and states that the bird presented to the late Mr. Lombe is still preserved in his collection now in the 
possession of his daughter, Mrs. E. P. Clarke, of Wymondbam. 
Mr. Bond believes that the bird is still found in the Cambridgeshire fens, and that it breeds there, and 
also in Huntingdonshire. 
On the continent of Europe, I believe, this bird has been found in most of the marshy and fluviatile 
districts of its southern and central portions, and is not uncommon in similar situations in France and 
Belgium. In all these countries it is doubtless only a bird of summer passage, the winter being spent in 
Algeria and other parts of North Africa, where, as will have been seen by Mr. Salvin’s note given above, 
some remain and breed. 
Savi, by whom it Avas first noticed (in the ‘ Nuovo Glornale de’ Letteratl’ for 1824, and in his ‘ Ornltologia 
Toscana’) states that it arrives in Tuscany about the middle of April, that it conceals itself among the 
willows and shrubs, creeping about among the low branches, and feeds on Avorms and Insects. Malherbe 
mentions that it has been killed near Salerno, and that he had reason to believe that it migrates from Egypt 
and the coasts of Barbary, by Avay of Catania and Syracuse in Sicily, en route to Italy, where it spends the 
summer in marshy situations. The Rev. Mr. Tristram informed me that its unique and beautiful nest, 
Avhich is rendered interesting from its being made of one material throughout, is most difficult to detect ; 
only three rewarding several days’ assiduous search by a large party. 
A nest of this bird sent to me from Belgium was wholly composed of the dead and brittle leaves of a 
kind of flag, the coarser ones outside, and gradually diminishing in thickness toAAard the inside ; the cup-like 
interior was well defined. Another, forwarded to Mr. Hewitson, from the fens a few miles from Cambridge, 
by Mr. F. Bond, was “ beautifully symmetrical and round, and built entirely of the broad grassy top of the 
reed ; it Avas placed in a thick bunch of sedge on the ground. 
“ The eggs are considerably larger than those of the Grasshopper Warbler, and bear some resemblance to 
them, but are much more like those of the Woodlark and the Pied Wagtail.” The ground-colour is light 
olive, minutely freckled with a much darker tint forming a zone round the larger end. 
Head, neck, back, wings, and tail-feathers reddish brown, the latter indistinctly barred Avith a darker tint ; 
chin and throat Avhitish ; fore part of the neck and the breast pale brown ; under surface similar in colour, 
but paler than the upper ; bill broAvn ; legs and toes pale broAAm. 
The Plate represents the bird, perhaps somewhat smaller than the natural size, and a female on her nest. 
