MARSH-WARBLER. 377 
times one might imagine that one was listening to the song of a Reed- 
Warbler with an unusually rich voice ; but more often the melody recalls 
the song of the Swallow, the Lark, or of the Tree-Warbler, and often one 
might come to the conclusion that the singer had had lessons from a 
Nightingale or a Bluethroat. The song is not so loud as that of the 
Nightingale, but almost as rich and decidedly more varied. In some 
parts of Germany both species are common, and in the course of a 
morning’s stroll, you may hear both birds in full song and have a good 
opportunity of making a comparison between them. I penned the 
preceding notes three years ago on the banks of the river that winds 
past Herrenhausen, near Hanover, whither my friend Post-Director Pralle 
had taken me the year before he died, to teach me the difference between 
the songs of these two birds, both of them special favourites of his. 
Naumann says that the call- and alarm-notes resemble very closely those 
of the Reed-Warbler. He also asserts that, in addition to their usual 
insect food, they are fond of currants, elder-berries, and other soft 
‘fruits. 
The same excellent observer states that “the nest is never placed over 
water—not even over marshy ground. It is always built over firm ground, 
though this is generally somewhat moist, as it cannot help being on the 
bank of a stream, a situation often chosen. But you can always reach 
the nest dryshod. In the Lowlands I always found it near the large 
country-houses, especially in the gardens on the banks of the moats, 
which sometimes were filled with reeds, and frequently contained very 
little vegetation. The nest was sometimes close to the water, but often 
many steps away from it, in low bushes overgrown with reeds ; frequently 
it was built in the nettles, or in a clump of water-sorrel and reeds, or in 
a small bush overgrown with reeds, nettles, and other plants. It is also 
said to be found in the rape-fields, generaliy in the ditches, seldom deep 
in the rape itself. The Reed-Warbler often breeds near the Marsh- 
Warbler, sometimes in the same ditch; but the latter bird always builds 
in the herbage on the bank near the water, whilst the former as constantly 
breeds in the reeds over the water. To this rule there seems to be no 
exception. ‘he nest is generally from one to three feet from the ground, 
very seldom nearer, and, I am told on the best authority, never on the 
ground itself..... It is no use to look for the nest in the middle of dense 
thickets, but only on their edges, especially in isolated little bushes close 
to the borders of ditches and moats. When one knows this they are 
comparatively easy to find. The greatest difficulty connected with the 
search is in the great restlessness of the bird. The male sings now here, 
and then a hundred yards away. He seems to require for his feeding- 
ground a much wider circle than his congeners do. The best way to find 
the nest is to notice where he sings during the night or at early morning. 
