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LOCUSTELLA AVICULA, Ray
Grasshopper Warbler.

Locustella avicula, Ray, Syn., p. 70.
Curruca grisea nevia, Briss. Orn., tom. vi., Suppl., p. 112
Sylvia locustella, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii, p- 515.
Motacilla nevia, Bodd. Tab. PI, Bin ee MSF
locustella, Pall. Zoogr. Ross.-Asiat., tom. i, p. 508.
ae foousiella, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 213.
crocephalus fluviatilis, Naum. Vog. Alte Augs-Nachtr., p. 202.
Calamoherpe locustella, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 552.
tenuirostris, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., p- 440?
Sibilatrix locustella, Macgill. Hist. of Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 399.
Salicaria locustella, Selby, Ill. Brit. Orn., vol. i. p. 199.
Muscipeta locustelta, Koch, Baier, Zool., tom. i, p. 166.
oliwacea, Koch, Id., Dem love
Locustella Rayi, Gould in Bonap. Geogr. and Comp. List of Birds of Eur. and N.
nevia, Deg]. Orn. Eur., tom. i. p. 589.
Calamodyta locustella, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 172, Calamodyta, sp. 2.
Locustella ———, Kaup, Natiirl. Syst., p. 115.
locustella, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Ay., tom. i. p. 280, Locustella, sp. 1.
Parnopia locustella, Blas. List of Birds of Eur., English edit., p. 11.

Amer., p. 12.

 

Ir the Robin be distinguished for its boldness and the Sparrow for its impudence, the present plainly
coloured little bird is rendered remarkable by a precisely opposite trait, that of extreme reclusiveness ;
and I question if one in a thousand of those who dwell in the parts of the country where it is common would
ever get a sight of it, or even become aware of its presence, were it not for its remarkable sibilant song,
which so closely resembles that of the Mole Cricket (@rylotalpa culgaris), that ears long accustomed to the
sound have attributed it not to the bird, but to the insect. This comparatively unseen minstrel of evening,
like the Reed-Wren and the Sedge-Warbler, arrives in this country from the northern portions of Africa,
between the middle and latter end of April, and departs again in August and September. It is true that its
arrival is seldom witnessed; but we know that the brake, the thickly tangled hedge, and the rush-grown
swamp will at the proper season be tenanted by it, and that as summer advances its nest and beautiful
speckled eggs may be found if carefully searched for. Those who seat themselves near a cluster of thorns
in the western county of Devonshire, in the green lanes of the more central parts of England, or visit the
rushy meres of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk, will soon be assured of its presence, as they also
will be in all similar situations, both in Wales and Scotland, to which its migrations certainly extend ; for
Dr. Dewar, of Glasgow, informs me that he has found it to be very common among the low shrubby trees
on the banks of Loch Awe and Loch Lomond. It has also been seen in Ireland from north to south, but
appears to be more rarely met with in that western island. 1

In all the localities above mentioned the song of the male may be heard immediately after its arrival and
until the female has completed the task of incubation. Sometimes its reel-like hotes strike the ear but
lightly, the next moment they sound more shrill and piercing; at another it 1s que ae i
character, appearing at one instant to proceed from a bush close at hand, at the next from across a broo
Sit down a while, or stand still, if your attention has been attracted by the unusual sound ;
ill see the object which produced it perched on a twig near ie summit of a bush,
‘ll show its whereabouts ; perchance you may see it passing along the horizontal
cended to the wet ground, running mouse-like across the
If the precautions above described be

at some distance.
remain quiet and you w
or the shaking of the leaves w
branch of a bramble or clematis, or, having des
aM vee aes eee Wee ee of becoming acquainted with the actions
strictly observed, then, and then only, will you have an g

of the Grasshopper Warbler—a bird whose reclusiveness leads it to dwell in the most impenetrable part of

thick and entangled herbage.

The late Captain Loche, in his
this species is rarely found in that country, et eat
ee ae ae ae ee to be more rare in the southern than in the
appears, from the statements of the authors I hi s ,

List of Mammalia and Birds observed by him in Algeria, remarks that
yet all, or at least the greater part of those which frequent
On the continent of Europe it

central portions.

SESS