392 CALAMOHERPE PHRAGMITIS. 



strongly tinged with yellowish -brown, as are the lower tail- 

 coverts ; the tibial feathers brown. 



Length to end of tail 5 ^^^ inches ; extent of wings 7i^2 ; wing 

 from flexure 2/^ ; tail 2 ; bill along the ridge ^^1, along the 

 edge of lower mandible ^-^ ; tarsus H ; first toe j%, its claw 

 y| ; second toe y| ; its claw ^^ ; third toe j^|, its claw j^ ? 

 fourth toe ^|, its claw '^^. 



Female. — The female is slightly larger, and in colour resem- 

 bles the male, the upper part of the head however being more 

 tinged with brown, the back of a lighter tint, and the rump 

 less bright. 



Length to end of tail 4:^% inches ; extent of wings Vy^j ; 

 bill along the ridge || ; tarsus j| ; middle toe and claw j|. 



Variations. — The variations in adult individuals are not 

 remarkable. 



Changes. — As the summer advances the edges of the feathers 

 disappear, so that the upper part of the head becomes nearly 

 uniform brownish-black, and the lower parts dull greyish- 

 white. The feathers of the tail, and the longer primary quills 

 are generally worn and ragged, as in the White-throated 

 Warbler and other species. 



Habits. — The Sedge Reedling is rather abundant in many 

 of the marshy parts of England, but is nowhere common in 

 Scotland, although in the southern and middle divisions it is 

 here and there to be met with. Its favourite resorts are marshy 

 places overgrown with tall aquatic plants, especially reeds and 

 carices, among which it usually makes its nest, sometimes 

 fastening it to the stems at some height from the ground, but 

 commonly placing it on the latter. At the margin of the 

 marsh at the west end of Duddingston Loch, near Edinburgh, 

 I found a nest of this species in the midst of a large clump of 

 Solanum Dulcamara, supported by the branches, but so con- 

 cealed that I discovered it only after cutting off a great num- 

 ber of the flowering twigs, which I was collecting for demon- 



