58 MODE OF SINGING AND BUILDING. 



brown ; a yellowish white streak over each eye ; lower 

 parts brownish white. 



This bird belongs to the Calamoherpe, or Reedling genus, 

 of which there are two British species ; it arrives in Eng- 

 land about the middle of April, and silently, but in great 

 numbers, takes possession of the banks of streams and 

 pools, of osier holts, and of shrubs and bushes that grow 

 by marshes and other moist spots. It does not inhabit the 

 very high grounds, but it appears throughout the whole 

 range of England, and partially in the south of Scotland. 

 It is not a loud songster, but a very constant one ; and 

 though it sings best in the morning and towards night, it 

 may be heard at most times of the day, and not unfre- 

 quently during the night. Its song is hurried, though 

 varied, not so much in the single stave, as in its having 

 several of them, which would lead one to imagine there 

 were different birds. It sings deep in the throat and gives 

 a sort of guttural twist to all it utters, while leaping 

 among the woods from one resting place to another, or sit- 

 ting perched on a bush or osier twig. The mode of build- 

 ing peculiar to this bird depends upon the locality; if 

 among reeds, the nest is united to two or three of these ; 

 if in a holt where the young osiers do not afford con- 

 venient forks, it is on the side of some stool that stands 

 above the flooding ; if in a bush, it is placed in the centre; 

 and if the only cover for the bird be rushes, the nest is 

 enclosed in a tuft. The materials are vegetable fibres and 

 moss, with occasionally a few hairs, but in general the 

 lining is formed of the finer fibres of dry grass and roots. 

 The eggs are five or six in number, and of a light dull 

 brown, mottled with darker spots of the same. The food 

 of this bird consists chiefly of those insects which frequent 

 humid and watery places, which it captures by leaping 

 upon them suddenly from its perch. 



On either side the marshy banks of the Thames, among 

 the beds of reeds and rushes, these little birds abound, but 

 they are not easily got at on account of the soil and swampy 

 nature of the ground. It is found pretty generally distri- 

 buted along the margins of the Scotch lochs, particularly 

 where there is plenty of reedy grass and birchen coppice. 



