THE REED WARBLER 71 



visited annually for breeding purposes, one might 

 almost be led to think that they mate for life. Be 

 this as it may, the birds are very quarrelsome and 

 noisily pugnacious until each pair has settled down 

 into its summer quarters, but the time of nest-build- 

 ing depends a good deal on the state of the weather. 

 If warm and genial, operations soon begin, but cold 

 dull weather seems to retard them. The eggs are 

 laid during May and June. The nest of this 

 Warbler is either made amongst the reeds, in the 

 slender branches of willows and alders overhanging 

 the water, or less frequently in a thick hedge by 

 the river-side. It is made at varying heights from 

 the ground, or rather water, sometimes being within 

 a few inches of the surface, at other times several 

 feet. When made amongst the reeds it is sus- 

 pended between three or four stems, whilst those 

 placed in branches are slung from several slender 

 twigs, the material being woven round each in turn. 

 The nest is a deep well-made structure — quite a 

 different type of architecture altogether from that of 

 the typical Warblers — composed of dry sedge and 

 grass, the ribbon-like leaves of the reeds, roots, bits 

 of moss, wool, and vegetable down, lined with finer 

 down, sometimes a feather or two and a little hair. 

 In some cases the nest is very elongated, almost 

 funnel-shaped, with a considerable foundation below 

 the cavity containing the eggs; others are more 

 cup-shaped, and these are made with much less 



