72 OUR FAVOURITE SONG BIRDS 



material. The four or five eggs are pale greenish- 

 blue — almost white in some cases — in ground-colour, 

 spotted and blotched with olive-brown, freckled and 

 sometimes streaked with darker brown, and with 

 underlying markings of grey or paler brown. The 

 female sits the most, and both birds become excited 

 and utter harsh scolding notes if disturbed at the 

 nest. But one brood is reared in the year; if the 

 first lot of eggs be taken, a new nest will be made 

 and another clutch produced. 



The food of the Reed Warbler is chiefly composed 

 of insects and their larvse; many imagos are caught 

 whilst on the wing. In the later summer months 

 there seems to be little doubt that smnll soft fruits 

 and berries are also eaten. This Warbler is a 

 comparatively early migrant in autumn, its journey 

 south commencing towards the end of August, but 

 many birds appear to delay their departure until 

 the first half of September. 



The Reed Warbler is a very plain-looking little 

 bird, having the general colour of the upper parts 

 olive-brown strongly suffused with rufous, especially 

 on the rump and upper tail-coverts. The wings 

 and tafl are brown, the feathers with paler margins. 

 The under parts are white, shading into buff on the 

 breast, flanks, and under tail-coverts. The female 

 closely resembles the male in colour, and the total 

 length of this species is a little over five inches. 



Mention might here be made of the nearly allied 



