INSESSORES. 45 



visitant, arriving in April and leaving in September. 

 Between these two months this bird may always be 

 found along the course of our brooks, and at quiet 

 reedy ponds. It is a noisy little bird, singing all 

 day and throughout half the night. " The marshy 

 banks of the Thames, on either side of the river, 

 where beds of willows or reeds abound, are well 

 stocked with this bird, although, from the wet and 

 muddy nature of the ground, they are not very easy 

 to get at." 



Reed Warbler, Sylvia aruncUnacea. This species 

 is local, perhaps, rather than rare, and is seldom 

 seen in the north and north-west portions of the 

 county, although common along the Thames and 

 the Colne. It visits us about the same time that 

 the Sedge Warbler does. 



It may be distinguished from the Sedge Warbler 

 by its being a longer and slimmer bird, and by its 

 note and different flight. In the Sedge Warbler, 

 the most conspicuous characters are a white line 

 over the eye, a darker back, and dark centre to wing 

 feathers, with lighter margins. In the Reed Warbler, 

 the feathers are more uniform in colour. 



Mr. Mitford, writing from Hampstead, gives the 

 following interesting particulars relating to the 

 Reed Warbler : — 



" This very pretty little Warbler I had only asso- 

 ciated years ago witli what I then thought its only 

 haunts, such as reed-beds in fens, marsh- ditches. 



