310 Notice of the Reed Warhler. 



where 1 had frequent opportunities of observing the habits of 

 the bird ; for it abounds in the reeds [y4r{indo Phragmites] 

 on the banks of the Stour, and in the ditches communicating 

 with the river. 



Its congener, the sedge warbler (Curruca salicaria), seems 

 to live with it in great harmony ; but the reed bird confines 

 itself rather closely to the reeds, while the sedge bird is as 

 frequently to be seen and heard in the low hawthorn bushes 

 and pollard willows which skirt the river : however, one of 

 the specimens now sent was shot in a poplar tree, having left 

 the reeds for this unusual locality but an instant before. 



I discovered two nests : from one of them the young birds 

 had just made their escape, and were clinging with their long 

 claws to the reeds ; in which situation the old ones appeared 

 to be feeding them. The little creatures leave the nest long 

 before their wings are of any use, and support themselves with 

 great dexterity on their frail perches, the sport of every pass- 

 ing breeze, and, to all appearance, in imminent danger of 

 being precipitated into the water. In the mouths of nearly all 

 the old birds which I shot was a number of flies, generally 

 small dragon flies ; and these, I observed, were much moist- 

 ened, and in some instances almost half-digested, either by 

 the saliva of the bird, or by its ability to hold water for this 

 purpose.* I was unable to make much observation upon the 

 song of the bird, for the joyous days of sylvan melody had 

 passed before my arrival in the country ; all that I heard was 

 a chirping note, very similar to that of the sedge warbler, 

 although, perhaps, somewhat more hoarse and guttural. 



* This remark applies equally to the sedge warbler. 



