Warbler
a popular name often applied to all the birds of the family Sylviidæ; (sometimes called by the French name of fauvettes); many of which, however, commonly receive other popular names as the blackcap, nightin- NEST OF REED WARBLER gale, head sparrow, red breast, redstart, stonechat, wheatear, whitethroat, etc., while many receive the name warbler warbler with some adjunct-reed warbler, etc.
The more typical genera comprise birds of small size and plain plumage, usually alike in both sexes; most of them are migratory, going a long way S. of their breeding haunts to winter; for instance, the Siberian chiff chaff (Phylloscopus tristis) winters in India. Such genera are Sylvia, to which the blackcap and garden warbler belong; Locustella, of which is the grasshopper warbler (L. nævia), not infrequent in many parts of England, and found also in the S. of Scotland and in Ireland. It is found in most parts of the center and S. of Europe, at least during summer, being a bird of passage. It is of a greenishbrown color, the centers of the feathers dark brown, producing a spotted appearance; the lower parts pale brown. It is a shy bird, hiding itself in hedges and bushes, but very active, often darting out like a mouse from the bottom of the hedge, and receives its name from its chirping, grasshopper-like note.