THE MARSH-WARBLERS 81 



stems of reeds and other plants. It has been stated l that young 

 sedge-warblers are very playful, and even indulge in a set game a 

 sort of tilting match in which two take part at a time, while the 

 others look on. 



Whether any species of this genus ever rears two broods in a 

 season in this country is not definitely proved, but I think it probable 

 that the sedge-warbler does so occasionally. When searching a 

 neglected osier-bed late in June 1909 I found some young sedge- 

 warblers among the bushes, and an empty nest showing signs of young 

 having been reared in it ; a nest with three eggs and one of a cuckoo, 

 another nest with three fresh eggs, one with one egg and yet another 

 nest built and ready for eggs. While these may have been second 

 nests of birds that had reared one brood, they may equally well have 

 belonged to late arrivals, for the immigration of sedge-warblers is 

 often protracted to the end of May. Mr. H. E. Howard 2 thinks 

 it probable that two broods are sometimes reared, as some of the 

 males indulge in a second courtship in July exactly similar to the 

 usual spring courtship, which is responded to by the females as in 

 the spring. 



Retiring as all the Acrocephali undoubtedly are, their wonderful 

 industry in song suggests that the skulking is not so much for con- 

 cealment as because their livelihood is so closely connected with the 

 insects and small aquatic creatures that abound on the ground and 

 on the stems of plants. But when singing they frequently leave the 

 cover for more exposed positions ; the reed-warbler may be seen 

 perched on a high reed, and sometimes it sings as it flits from reed- 

 bed to reed-bed. 3 The sedge-warbler will mount higher in its favourite 

 bush to scold an intruder, and occasionally in its excitement break 

 out into song in the midst of its scolding. It also has a pretty habit 

 of flying straight up after the manner of the whitethroat, singing in 

 the air for a brief spell, and also as it drops back, pipit-like, into the 



1 British Warblers, Howard, Part I. p. 10. 2 Ibid. 



3 Miss E. L. Turner (in litt.) records a reed-warbler singing on its way to the nest, and con- 

 tinuing its song for a short time while brooding. 



VOL. II. L 



