WARBLERS. 
499 
by the feathers of the forehead being short and rounded, instead of disintegrated 
and with elongated shafts. Moreover, there are no hairs or bristles on the forehead, 
with the exception of the ordinary ones at the rictus of the gape. In this particular 
genus of the group, displaying the above characters, the first primary quill of the 
wing is much less than one-third the length of the second, while the rictal bristles 
are strongly developed, and the tail is but slightly graduated. The reed-warbler 
(.Acrocephalus streperus ) is an annual visitor to most parts of temperate Europe, 
arriving in April and May, and generally taking up its abode in extensive morasses. 
The nest is a singularly beautiful structure, built in the middle of a wood a long 
way from water; one which we found was composed of delicate green moss; while 
another from Romney Marsh was almost wholly constructed of sheep’s wool. The 
eggs are greenish white in ground-colour, clouded or freckled with dark olive. The 
song of this warbler is rich and much varied. The adult male in spring has the 
upper-parts rufous brown, the colour being most pronounced upon the rump and 
upper tail-coverts, while the chin and throat are dull white, and the breast and 
flanks pale buff. 
The sedge-warbler (A. schoenoboenus), shown on the left figure on p. 501, is 
common in many parts of Europe, arriving in April from North Africa, and 
speedily taking up its residence in some suitable haunt, generally a scrub near 
the waterside. It generally departs again for the south in September, wintering 
in Africa. Its song is loud and varied, and often delivered during the stillness 
of a summer night. The nest is a slight structure, of dry stems without any 
lining, or of dry stems and a little green moss, lined with the feathers of the 
gadwall. The eggs are yellowish brown. The adult male in spring has the 
upper-parts rusty russet-brown, with dark centres to the feathers, the eyestripe 
being buffish white; while the wings and tail are brown, and the under-parts 
huffish white. 
Grasshopper- Nearly allied to the last, the grasshopper-warblers ( Locustella ), 
Warbler. of which there are some eight species, may be distinguished by the 
smaller development of the rictal bristles, as well as by the more markedly 
graduated tail, in which the outermost feathers are less than three-fourths the 
total length. They derive their name from their peculiar chirping notes. The 
grasshopper-warbler (L. vxmia) is a regular but local summer visitant to Europe, 
arriving in Britain in the month of April in small flocks which soon break up, each 
pair taking up its residence in some sequestered nook either on a heath on the 
margin of large woods or in the bottom of a deep hedge. On its first arrival 
the hedges are generally bare or nearly so, a circumstance which naturally 
facilitates the observation of the movements of this shy bird. Both the male and 
female sing, but most of the ventriloquising efforts proceed from the male bird. 
The grasshopper-warbler sings its curious song principally during the early hours 
of day and shortly before dusk, although it would be a mistake to suppose that 
it does not sing at other times, for it often sings lustily in the middle of the day. 
The nest is cunningly concealed in thick herbage; the best plan of discovering 
its whereabouts being to visit the spot, which the birds are known to frequent, 
shortly before sunset. If every likely corner be thus explored with the aid of 
a long stick, the female will almost certainly be detected in the act of slipping 
