174 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



its light body stirs the tops so that, though silent and invisible, 

 its progress may be traced. It has a curious way of sidling up 

 a reed to the top and there singing in full view. The song is a 

 mixture of sweet and harsh notes, monotonous and deliberate, 

 as if uttered with an effort ; it is neither so varied nor loud as 

 that of the Sedge. In summer the song is heard after dark, 

 and is frequent until the end of July and often heard in August 

 and September. In courtship, when the male raises his crest, and 

 depresses his fanned-out tail, he will rise and sing on the wing. 

 The males are said to arrive first and stake out the nesting 

 claim, but this is difficult to prove, for according to some 

 observers the females occasionally sing ; another statement 

 that the bird is a solitary migrant lacks confirmation ; at any 

 rate, it often arrives in large numbers in its more northerly 

 haunts. The male is a jealous guardian of the nest, and will 

 drive off avian and violently scold human intruders ; his alarm 

 note is a rasping churr. The bird is a mimic, though less so 

 than the Marsh or Sedge. 



The normal nest is a work of art, suspended or rather built 

 round three or more reed stems, usually those growing out of 

 water. If the young reeds are sufficiently advanced it is 

 attached to these, and as they grow fast it rises rapidly with 

 its supports ; it may be built soon after the bird arrives in May 

 or not until June, and early nests are often on the old reeds. 

 In the same year I have found eggs in nests in old reeds in the 

 middle of May, and others at the end of June on the young 

 reeds. The nest is a deep straight-sided, firmly woven 

 structure, usually with a sound foundation of grasses, strips 

 of reed or sedge, and with wool or reed flowers so intermingled 

 as to render it solid and compact ; in the neat cyHnder of the 

 hollow, lined with reed flowers, fine grasses and hair, eggs and 

 young are safe when wind sways the stems, and the head of 

 the sitting bird is often almost invisible. There is, however, 

 great variation in the architecture, many nests being as shallow 



