THE SEDGE WAKBLEE. 



115 



other birds as are within the compass of its little throat. 

 I was walking one morning in May by the banks of a 

 canal not far from a village, when I remarked the exact 

 resemblance between a portion of its song and the chirrup 

 of a House-sparrow. Intermixed with this, I detected the 

 note of some other bird ; but, familiar though it sounded, 

 I ransacked my memory in vain to discover from whom it 





THE SKDGE WARBLER. 



was purloined. Pursuing my walk towards the houses, I 

 heard the note of some Guinea-fowls; not the "come- 

 back " cry, but the " click-click " which every one knows 

 so well. Of this the Sedge Warbler had caught exactly 

 both the key and the time ; the two notes were in fact 

 identical, except that they were performed on instru- 

 ments of different calibre. Like other chatterers, who, 

 i 2 



