36 Order I 



purplish brown legs. Both these birds are nearly white 

 below and have an obscure buff streak over the eye : 

 the Sedge Warbler on the contrary has a buff breast, 

 a distinct yelloAvish white eye-streak, and a streaked 

 instead of a plain crown. The respective haunts and 

 habits are, however, characteristic, while the birds, 

 though in constant motion except when singing, can 

 scarcely be called shy and are easily observed. When not 

 built in herbaceous plants or bushes, the Reed Warbler's 

 nest is slung between three or four reeds standing in 

 water, and is an elongated structure with a deep cup, lined 

 with w^ool or hair, to contain the four or five greenish 

 white eggs with olive and grey blotching; it almost 

 dwindles to a point below, and is a curiously hard-looking 

 fabric, which, it may be remarked, is one of the most 

 favourite nurseries of the Cuckoo. The Marsh Warbler 

 seems independent of w^ater, except that, in the same 

 way as its congeners, it reUes largely for food on aquatic 

 insects and their larvae, while the flatter nest is never in 

 reeds but is usually placed in rough herbage or small 

 willowS; meadow-sweet and willow-herb being specially 

 favoured sites. The eggs are distinguishable by their 

 white ground-colour and clearer markings. The Sedge 

 Warbler is still less particular as to site or materials, but 

 generally uses some moss ; its five or six eggs, moreover, 

 are of an almost uniform yellowish brown, owing to the 

 closeness of the spotting. They often have a black streak 

 at the larger end, as in the similar eggs of the Yellow 

 Wagtails. Breeding takes place early in May ; while the 

 Reed and Marsh Warblers do not begin, as a rule, till 

 late in the month. 



Most people have heard of the Grasshopper Warbler 

 or "Fen Reeler" (Locustella ncevia), so called from its 



