THE WHITETHROATS 159 



To the Phylloscopinae belong : 



The chiffchaff. 



The willow wren or willow warbler. 



These two birds build upon the ground ; their 

 nests are domed, and lined with feathers. 

 To the Acrocephalinae belong : 



The reed warbler. 

 The sedge warbler. 



These prefer to build in the reeds by the 

 waterside. Their nests are cup-shaped, that 

 of the reed warbler being built firmly into the 

 reeds and lined with horsehair only ; whereas 

 that of the sedge warbler is in a measure suspended 

 from the reeds rather than built into them, and 

 is lined with feathers. 



Though called the greater and lesser white- 

 throats, there is little, if any, difference in the size 

 of these birds a quarter of an inch at the most. 

 Colonel Irby gives their length as being five and 

 a half and five and a quarter inches respectively. 

 As their names imply, the throats of both birds 

 are pure white. This of itself serves to distinguish 

 them from the chiffchaff and garden warbler, 

 which they much resemble in other respects. 

 The back of the whitethroat is reddish-brown, the 

 legs of a pale brown. The head and back of the 

 lesser whitethroat are of a bluish-gray with a 

 brownish tinge, the legs lead-coloured. The songs 

 of the two birds are also different. The Rev. 

 Warde Fowler describes the song of the greater 



