192 



SUMMER 



plants the reed springs late, and the reed-warblers wait till it 

 has formed a dense cover to hide them building. Unlike the 



sedge- warblers they usually nest 

 in colonies, and this is clearly due 

 to the scarcity of their favourite 

 reeds, which concentrates them 

 in the spots where the reeds 

 grow. The reed-beds ripple at 

 midsummer with the reed-warb- 

 lers' babbling song, which recalls 

 the sedge-warbler's, but is more 

 silvery. The number of singers 

 in one place is also apt to at- 

 tract attention even from those 

 ramblers who are not on the watch for reed-warblers or the 

 brakes which hold them. Then, if we watch closely, the 

 smooth and slender little birds 

 in their russet coats can be seen 

 slipping from reed to reed, 

 and resting on their vertical 

 stems in a characteristic atti- 

 tude, with the upper leg bent 

 and the lower one stretched 

 to its full reach. 



Perhaps because their 

 colonies are easy for a wan- 

 dering bird to discover, reed- 

 warblers are very often victim- 

 ised by cuckoos. The surest 

 way to find a cuckoo's eggs or 

 nestlings is to search in a 



colony of reed-warblers' nests. More meadow-pipits' are 

 utilised by cuckoos than reed-warblers' ; but it is not so easy 



