76 THE SEDGE WAEBLER. 



other bushes, intermingled with rank vegetation by the sides 

 of our bogs, ponds, ditches, and streams, 



Where bur-reeds and rushes by the water-side bloom, 

 And the lang meadow-queen waves its snawy white plume.^ 



Long ago the extensive morass of Billy Mire, which was 

 covered from end to end with luxuriant sedges and bog-reeds, 

 with low grey willows here and there on its banks, would form 

 a favourite resort of this bird, and during summer its song 

 would be heard in every direction amongst the rank vegeta- 

 tion which bordered the deep moss-hags and black pools of 

 the mire. It is also found at some distance from water 

 in thick hedgerows and young plantations, where the trees 

 are growing close together. The most remarkable charac- 

 teristics of this Warbler are its song — which is loud, 

 garrulous, and imitative of the notes of various birds, such 

 as the House Sparrow and the Whitethroat — and its habit 

 of frequently singing late in summer nights, which has 

 apparently given rise to the local name of Scotch Nightin- 

 gale. I may mention that I heard one singing as late as 

 10.30 P.M. in a hedge near Nabdean, in the parish of Hutton, 

 about the end of June 1886. The song was continued for 

 a considerable time, and sounded sweetly in the distance, 

 the notes being like those of a Lark. 



Although the Sedge "Warbler usually keeps itself well 

 hidden, it may sometimes be observed in the morning sing- 

 ing on the top of a bush, or even on the branch of a tree. 

 I find from my note-book that, on the 20th of May 1886, I 

 saw one sitting singing on a leafless branch of a young ash 

 tree near Nabdean Mill Pond, at 9 a.m., and noticed that it 

 puffed out its little throat, and kept its tail close down on 

 its perch while it sung. Sweet mentions that it generally 



' Dr. Henderson's MS. Poems. 



