28 EARLY SPRING: 
may build in reeds (see plate XXIV in Part 
I) but oftener in bushes, and about ten or 
twelve feet from the ground. Bothare gener- 
ally found near water, but the sedge-warbler 
will be found the further from it, I think. 
They are both constant and beautiful war- 
blers. If the nests be approached, instead of 
uttering a note of alarm like the blackbird 
or thrush, they sing all the more. Both 
keep out of sight as much as possible, gliding 
quickly in and out of the herbage with an 
easy grace. The sedge-warbler likes to keep 
at the tops of bushes. The contour of the 
head, neck and body of these birds resembles 
the lines of a fine yacht. The nests have to 
be deep so that the eggs will not drop out, 
as reeds sway about much in the wind. 
*k x xk K 
Then we rowed to Wild Duck Island. 
Almost at the very spot where we had found 
a nest last year, a female Mallard (probably 
the same bird) dashed out ; on going to the 
place we found her nest with nine eggs. 
It was built entirely of dried leaves of a 
