SEDGE WARBLER. 49 
SEDGE WARBLER. 
ACROCEPHALUS PHRAGMITIS (Bechstein). 
Pit Sparrow, Night Sparrow. 
In the Hill Country of East Cheshire the Sedge 
Warbler occurs but sparingly, and then only in sheltered 
situations in the valleys. We have met with one or 
two pairs in the valley of the upper Dane, near Wincle ; 
and on the marshy ground near Bosley Reservoir the 
bird is fairly plentiful. Mr. N. Neave informs us that 
it is not common near Rainow. We have never seen 
it in the neighbourhood of Crowden and Woodhead, 
the lack of suitable cover in upper Longdendale being 
sufficient reason for its absence. 
From the end of April until September, the Sedge 
Warbler is one of the commonest visitors to the low- 
lands of the rest of the county. It is most abundant 
in the marsh-lands bordering the meres, by the sides of 
marl-pits in the fields, and along brooks and ditches, 
but is not uncommon in plantations and thickets at 
some distance from any water. Wherever the bird 
occurs, its chattering song reveals its presence, at night 
as well as in the daytime. 
The fields along the coast at Parkgate are divided by 
deep ditches, whose beds are clothed with luxuriant 
vegetation. Old thorn-trees, whose upward growth is 
prevented by the winds from the sea, fill the upper 
parts of these ditches to the level of the surrounding 
fields with a matted mass of twigs and branches. 
This dense cover affords shelter for innumerable Sedge 
Warblers, and nowhere have we found the bird so 
plentiful. 
D 
