7G THE WARBLERS 



say but little of its nesting habits. As before stated, it is a much 

 larger bird than our reed-warbler ; its voice, its nest, and the reeds 

 among which it builds are also on a larger scale. The nest is com- 

 posed of coarse, dead grass and fibre, and is not so neat as that of 

 our bird ; it often has a very deep foundation, which tends to a 

 conical formation at the base. This foundation is, in some instances, 

 so deep as to make the whole nest measure as much as twelve inches 

 in height. 



The sedge-warbler does not always keep to marshy ground; it may 

 be found nesting in broken hedgerows and in bushes on the banks of 

 dry ditches. I have found a nest three feet from the ground in a 

 privet bush in the middle of an orchard, far removed from water, or even 

 damp ground of any kind. This, however, is somewhat exceptional ; it 

 loves best rough, wet ground, covered with rushes and sedge, and 

 sallow and willow bushes. The nest, as a rule, is substantially built, 

 and is placed from one to two feet from the ground in a low bush, 

 a clump of sedge or other vegetation where there is good, solid 

 support. Examination of a large number of nests, however, reveals 

 considerable variation from the type in material and bulk from a 

 substantial structure with thick walls and spreading foundation of 

 dry bents with much moss and occasionally a lining of feathers, to a 

 frail nest of the garden-warbler type. There is variation also with 

 regard to position and support. The most interesting development 

 is abandonment of the solid support for a very decided imitation of 

 the method of the reed-warbler. I have found a nest clearly sus- 

 pended, three feet from the ground, on the stems of a tall, reed-like 

 grass ; and in Pictures of Bird-Life, by R. B. Lodge, page 67, is a 

 photograph of a nest suspended on reeds. Dr. A. G. Butler, in 

 British Birds, Their Nests and Eggs, Part i. page 118, writes, " Of the 

 many nests which I took on the Ormesby Broads in 1885 and 1886, 

 nearly all were suspended precisely like those of the reed- warbler." 



The marsh-warbler normally builds a nest of the reed-warbler 

 type, but usually among mixed herbage instead of reeds. Its 



