SEDGE WARBLER. 91 



usual custom and builds in extraordinary situations, such 

 as in a yew tree at Malton, presumably its first nest had 

 been destroyed (J. E. Harting's Summer Migrants, p. 85) ; 

 the late Col. Haworth-Booth found one in a black-currant 

 bush at Hullbank House, near Hull {Nat. 1896, p. 24) ; and 

 in the Washburn Valley a nest and young were noted on the 

 bank of a reservoir in long grass {op. cit. 1888, p. 330). 



In the report of its nesting near Leeds, above referred to, 

 it is stated that four nests were amongst willow bushes and 

 were placed at heights varying from five to seven and a 

 half feet above the ground, whilst others were hidden amongst 

 nettles, about two feet from the ground, and supported by 

 their stems and dead twigs of willows ; the eggs were unlike 

 the ordinary type, being white with markings of a clear 

 greenish grey tint. The young have been seen on the 12th 

 of June, which is an exceptionally early date. 



The late G. Roberts of Lofthouse, near Wakefield, writing 

 in 1886, stated that a specimen of the Great Reed Warbler 

 {Acrocephaliis tnrdoides, Meyer), a species that is common 

 on the Continent of Europe, is in the possession of J. Ward 

 of Lofthouse, which G. Lumb got " a good many years since " 

 from someone at Wakefield. " It is said to have been found 

 dead at Methley." 



SEDGE WARBLER. 



Acrocephalus phragmitis {Bechstein). 



Summer visitant ; common, and generally distributed. 



The first reference to this bird in Yorkshire is contained in 

 the Rev. John Graves's " History of Cleveland," 1808, where 

 it is mentioned under the name of " Sedge Bird {Motacilla 

 salicaria)," and enumerated amongst the migrants. 



Thomas Allis, 1844, wrote : — 



Salicaria phragmitis. — Sedge Warbler — is met with near Doncaster 

 and Barnsley ; it is scarce near Huddersfield, and not numerous at 

 Halifax ; near Sheffield and at Hobmoor, York, it is frequent ; it also 

 occurs at Swillington and Brotherton. 



