BIRDS OF THE MARSH AND LAKE 413 



one drives along a country lane in the far-advanced 

 night, the beat of the horse's hoofs will set the little 

 singer going, the music dying down as the sound 

 of the wheels becomes faint in the distance. 



It may be noted here that many birds will con- 

 tinue to sing confidently so long as one keeps 

 moving; when the footfall is arrested they be- 

 come at once suspicious, just as Partridges, 

 which lie closely before the advancing guns, 

 will spring instantly into the air directly the line 

 is checked. 



The song of the Sedge Warbler, intermittent and 

 even jarring as it sometimes is, has a striking and 

 even thrilling effect when it suddenly breaks the 

 stillness of a June night. Although the notes differ 

 altogether from those of the Nightingale in quality 

 and power, they are constantly confounded, and the 

 paragraphs which appear in the papers from time 

 to time, announcing the occurrence of the king of 

 songsters in the more northerly counties, usually 

 refer in reality to the Sedge-bird. 



Another unobtrusive little bird is the Reed 

 \\^arbler, and by reason of its habitat, characteristic 

 movements and even of its song, it may easily be 

 mistaken for the more abundant Sedge Warbler. 

 Yet on examination the two birds are seen to be 

 quite distinct. In plumage the Reed Warbler lacks 

 the mottled appearance of the Sedge Warbler, the 

 whole of the upper surfaces, with the exception of 

 a narrow yellowish streak above the eye, being of 

 a uniform brown. Like others of the Aquatic 

 warblers, the middle feathers of the tail are about a 



