MARSH -WARBLER. 177 



Warbler with the execution of the Blackcap, In its sweet and 

 varied song it is an excellent mimic, introducing a large range 

 of notes borrowed from other birds, even, it is said, the liquid 

 bubble of the Nightingale and the chack of the Daw. Like its 

 congeners it sings at night, but the duration of the song is 

 short, usually it ends early in July. The food consists of 

 insects, particularly those which haunt marshy ground, and, it 

 is said, a few berries. 



The nest, which is not always in marshes and has been 

 found in cornfields, differs from most but by no means all nests 

 of the Reed-Warbler, in that it is very shallow. It is suspended 

 from marsh plants, especially meadow-sweet, willow-herb, cow- 

 parsnip and nettles, and the stalks do not pass through the 

 ^^•g^ of the nest, but are encircled by a loop of nesting material 

 which Mr. Warde Fowler called a " basket handle " (Plate 74). 

 It has seldom more than a few rootlets and hair as a lining to 

 its loosely woven grass structure. Four to five eggs are laid 

 towards the end of June, and only one brood is reared. These 

 are almost invariably whiter than the eggs of the Reed- Warbler, 

 and, boldly blotched and streaked towards the larger end with 

 purple, violet or olive, resemble the larger eggs of the Great 

 Reed- Warbler (Plate 122). 



The plumage is that of the Reed- Warbler, with the differ- 

 ences already stated, and Saunders states that the length of the 

 wing is slightly greater, which appears to be the case according 

 to the measurement of skins in the " Dresser " collection. 

 Length, 5*25 ins. Wing, 27 ins. Tarsus, -9 in. 



Saunders is in error when he su^^gests that Lilford's plate 

 was drawn from a Reed-Warbler ; I have examined the original 

 bird from which the artist coloured his figure, and it is a Marsh- 

 Warbler. 



Series I, 



