THE REED WARBLER 79 



an exceedingly loud, noisy, boisterous voice, as if 

 the bird were in the highest possible spirits. Very 

 unlike that of many of the singers ; the Nightingale, 

 for instance, to every one sounds sad, plaintive, 

 beautiful, but distinctly not cheerful. I have heard 

 the Reed Warbler very often at many points on 

 the Nile where there were no reed beds, but only 

 stunted tamarisk or other shrubs, but in the great 

 reed beds on and outside Lake Menzaleh I have 

 both seen and heard it in great numbers, and the 

 quite extraordinary penetrating noise that a number 

 make when together is most remarkable. It is a 

 most charming active little bird, a perfect acrobat, 

 and it sings as blithely upside down as it does 

 right side up. But the most attractive thing about 

 its life-history is its nest ; this it builds in the 

 very heart of some thick clump of reeds. The 

 accompanying picture shows how when the wind 

 blows the cradle does rock ; but it matters not how 

 much it rocks, the wise bird builds the nest so 

 deep that the eggs lying snug at the bottom 

 never get tilted out. In Egypt the bird is, like 

 the bulk of visitors, but a winter migrant. As it 

 is insectivorous it is of some use in keeping down 

 the host of flies great and small, and it is said to 

 be partial to mosquitoes, which should make every 



