THE REED WARBLER 53 



among the reeds, and now and then you may see him clinging 

 to a bending stem warbling lustily, his little orange mouth 

 being very conspicuous as he opens his bill, and his throat 

 puffed out with song. The Reed Warbler is another species 

 that sings at night. During the short hours of darkness at 

 midsummer the reed beds are resonant with his song. This 

 song has nothing very striking about it ; in fact it is some- 

 what monotonous, though possessing considerable variety and 

 sweetness. Sometimes the observer may wander along the 

 reed-fringed banks of a sluggish stream which he knows to 

 be a favourite haunt of the Reed Warbler, but not a bird is to 

 be seen or heard. A stone or a stick thrown amongst the 

 aquatic vegetation will generally arouse the reed-birds into 

 activity. Here and there the tall stems of the reeds are 

 seen to bend and quiver as the little birds hop from stalk to 

 stalk, and soon a burst of song as if in defiance rings clearly 

 out from the dense cover. Now and then we catch a 

 hasty glimpse of the sombre little songster, as he flits along 

 over the feathery heads of the waving reeds, sometimes sing- 

 ing as he goes. Numbers of Reed Warblers inhabit the same 

 reed beds, but each pair of birds appear to keep to themselves, 

 and drive off any intruder from their own particular corner. 

 Few birds are more active, and it is surprising with what 

 agility they can pass from reed to reed, threading the dense 

 cover with ease, and running up and down the slender stems 

 more like mice than birds. In localities where the birds are 

 numerous, one sings against the other with amazing per- 

 tinacity, but the little skulking musicians are far more often 

 heard than seen. 



In the low -lying counties, where narrow dykes take the 

 place of hedgerows, the Reed Warbler is exceptionally abund- 

 ant. It is no uncommon thing to find half a dozen nests in 

 a hundred yards or so of dyke ; but the birds are not at all 

 gregarious, and appear to keep to their own particular spots. 



