BRITAIN^S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 329 



THE SEDQE-WARBLER 



(Acrocephalus phragmitis). 



Plate 129. 



The Sedge-Warbler, or Sedge-Bird, is a Warbler of 

 fair size which frequents the reed-beds of slow-running 

 streams. There it lives a great part of its life in com- 

 parative retirement, thanks to the excellent cover it 

 enjoys, and it would not come much under our notice 

 were it not for its powers of song. It is not its own 

 babbling song which is particularly worthy of remark, 

 but its imitations of the songs of other birds. One has 

 only to remain still in its haunts, either by day or by 

 night at the proper season, to be delighted with the 

 beautiful medley of sound which the hidden songster pours 

 forth. First one bird's song and then another's is re- 

 produced, and, as a rule, the mimicry is wonderfully 

 accurate. 



The origin of the imitative song, so well illustrated by 

 this species, is rather obscure, and many interesting points 

 arise which cannot at present be answered. The true song 

 of a species is instinctive and inborn, and varies little; if 

 it does so at all, it is in all probability more with the 

 region than the individual. In the case of mimicry it is 

 almost certainly only the imitative faculty that is in- 

 herited. This would explain the great individual variation 

 in both the degree and the nature of this imitative song. 

 Sometimes we may catch a glimpse of the singer, and 

 with care and patience may follow up his movements. 

 But the circumstances are unfavourable for the observer. 

 Should we succeed in finding the nest, it is likely to be 



2p 



