GRASSHOPPER WARBLER. 
113 
than the ground. The eggs are five or six in number, 
Mr. Yarrell says, sometimes seven ; they rarely vary so 
much as to render their identity at all doubtful. 
In the collection of Mr. Knapp are two specimens, 
which are more remote from the usual appearance than 
any I have seen ; the minute dots, which are usually 
thickly sprinkled over the whole surface of the egg, are 
in these examples concentrated, so as to form a distinct 
ring round the larger end. Another variety, in the collec¬ 
tion of the Messrs. Tuke, has the ground-colour of a 
pure white. 
I once had a nest of this species brought to me, 
which contained seven eggs, one of which belonged to 
the cuckoo. 
The Rev. W. Turner of Uppingham, one of my corre¬ 
spondents during the progress of the British Oology,has the 
following interesting remarks in the Zoologist. “ Having 
in 1835 and twice since found the nest of the Grasshopper 
Warbler, I am enabled to give the following particulars of 
the nidification and habits of that skulking bird. The first 
nest was about the middle of a small plantation, of four or 
five years’ growth. Out of a tuft of grass, overarched by a 
bramble, and containing a small plant of white thorn, I 
observed something hop, as it were, and immediately drop 
into the herbage. I examined the tuft in hopes of finding 
a nest of something or other; but a careful search resulted 
in nothing but disappointment. In the course of the day 
I returned to the spot; there was the same hop and away, 
but the motion was so short and quick that I could not 
even then distinguish whether I had seen a bird or a 
mouse. I repeated my search for a nest, but with no 
better success than before. I then sat down by the spot 
to watch if anything would approach, and it was not long 
before I observed the grass move and a veritable Sylvia lo- 
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