88
THE BIRDS OF ESSEX.
lakes and streams in all parts of the county. It arrives late in April
and remains till late in September.
Lieut, Legge says (23. 9837) that round Shoebury it is
" one of the commonest of our Warblers, frequenting the reedy ditches of the
lowlands and situations where there are bushes, brambles, and sedge in the
vicinity of water. They resort particularly to dykes which are lined with the
wild sloe, which grows in great abundance in Canvey Island and other flat lands
in the vicinity. They build in the sloe in preference to any other bush." He adds
that " out of about two dozen nests, found in the course of a few days, seven
were built in almost the same manner and position as those of the Reed
Warbler."
Grasshopper Warbler: Locustella naevia.
A summer visitor to all parts of the county, I believe, but
decidedly uncommon, and always far more often heard than
seen. It is usually first
heard about the end of April,
and leaves us in September.
Mr. Clarke mentions one shot at
Audley End on May 20th, 1836, and
two shot at Widdington on April
30th, 1839 (24). King, writing at
Sudbury in 1838, says (20) : " I
have only once seen this bird in our
neighbourhood. Probably from its
retired habits it often passes un-

GRASSHOPPER WARBLER, 1/2.
noticed, and may not be so rare as we

suppose." Henry Doubleday, writing
from Epping in 1832, says (10), " only a single pair appear in the vicinity—in a
thick, damp wood;" but Mr. Buxton describes it (47. 90) as "common
throughout the [Epping Forest] district." It breeds round Harwich (Kerry). I
have eggs taken at Chignal, where the bird is not uncommon among the standing
corn, and Mr. Fitch has known it nest at Maldon.
Savi's Warbler : Locustella luscinioides.
A very rare summer visitor to the eastern counties, now pro-
bably extinct, as no British specimen has been recorded since
1856. It is very probable
that it used to nest in
Essex when the marshes
were entirely undrained,
but the only actual record
of its having done so is
the following very doubt-
ful one:—
J. Green, of Whitecross Place,
Wilson Street, Finsbury, writes
(23. 2849):—"I took a nest of
Savi's Warbler at Dagenham on