26 THE REED WARBLER 



the converse by no means follows. The parts of England in which 

 it appears to be most frequent, are East Riding of Yorkshire, Essex, 

 Surrey, Kent, Suffolk, and Norfolk. In the reed-beds on the banks 

 of the Thames, between Erith and Greenwich, it is common. 



" The nest of the Reed Warbler is often elegantly built, and 

 generally fixed to three or four reed-stems. It is composed of 

 slender blades of grass, interwoven with reed-tops, dry duckweed, 

 and the spongy substance which covers many of the marsh ditches ; 

 and, here and there, a long piece of sedge is wound securely around 

 it ; the lining is of the finer flowering stems of grass, intermixed 

 with a little horsehair. It is a deep and solid structure, so that 

 the eggs cannot easily roll out ; it is firmly fastened to the reeds 

 in tidal ditches and rivers, at the height of three or four feet from 

 the water, but in still ditches often not more than a foot. In windy 

 weather, when wading through the reed-beds, I have seen nests, 

 with both old and young in them, blown nearly to the surface of 

 the water ; but the birds fix their claws firmly to the sides of the 

 nest, with their heads to windward, and thus ride as securely in 

 their cradle as a sailor does in his cot or hammock. " ^ The Cuckoo 

 occasionally chooses the Reed Warbler's nest to lay its eggs in, for 

 the same writer remarks — " At the latter end of July, 1829, while 

 reading in my garden, which adjoins a market garden, I was agree- 

 ably surprised to see a young Cuckoo, nearly full-grown, alight on 

 the railings between the two, not more than a dozen yards from 

 where I was sitting. Anxious to see what bird had reared this 

 Cuckoo, I silently watched his movements, and had not waited 

 more than a minute, when a Reed Warbler flew to the Cuckoo, 

 who, crouching down with his breast close to the rail, and fluttering 

 his wings, opened wide his orange-coloured mouth to receive the 

 insect his foster-mother had brought him. This done, the Reed 

 Warbler flew away for a fresh supply of food. The difference in 

 the size of the two birds was great ; it was like a pigmy feeding 

 a giant. While the Reed Warbler was absent, the Cuckoo shuffled 

 along the rail, and hopped upon a slender post to which it was 

 nailed, and which projected about eight inches above the rail. 

 The Reed Warbler soon returned with more food, and alighted 

 close to the Cuckoo, but on the rail beneath him ; she then began 

 to stretch herself to the utmost to give him the food, but was unable 

 to reach the Cuckoo's mouth, who, like a simpleton, threw his head 

 back, with his mouth wide open, as before. The Reed Warbler, 

 by no means at a loss, perched upon the Cuckoo's broad back, 

 who, still holding back his head, received in this singular way the 

 morsel brought for him." The song of the Reed Warbler is 

 loudest and at its best during the evening twilight. 



1 Mr. W. H. Thomas, in the Zoologist, p. 97. 



