REED WARBLER 



NIGHT WARBLER REED WREN. 



PLATE CXVII. 



Acrocephalus strepervs, . . . VIEILLOT. 



Sylvia arundinacea, . . . NAUMANN. 



Motadlla arundinacea, . . . MONTAGU. 



Salicaria arundinacea, . . . GOULD. YARRELL. 



THIS bird is common in the south, though rare in the 

 north of England. 



Its nest is a very artistic piece of work, and is generally 

 placed between three, four, or five stems of the common reed 

 that grow near to one another, at a height commonly of 

 about three feet above the water, but has been known as 

 much as nine or ten feet from the ground. To these the 

 self-taught architect fastens the nest, twining and interlacing 

 the materials of which it is composed round and round 

 the reeds at intervals, until the whole is firmly fixed not so 

 firmly, however, but that the reeds may be easily slipped out 

 without injuring the structure. It is formed of dried grass, 

 moss, long stalks, lichens, and wool, and is lined with the 

 blossom of the reed. It generally consists of two parts, a 

 loose foundation of the first-named materials, and the actual 

 nest, which is composed almost exclusively of the last- 

 named. This upper part can sometimes be detached from 



the lower, as if from a socket, the whole being narrow 



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