310 SYLVIADJS. 



habits, plumage, and nest of this species, which, he found, 

 frequented the reeds of the river Coin from Harefield 

 Moor to Iver, a distance of about five miles. This bird 

 did not appear in Pennant's Zoology till the edition of 

 1812. 



The Reed Warbler comes to this country in April, and 

 departs again in September ; and is in its habits and man- 

 ners, as well as in the localities it frequents, so similar to 

 the Sedge Warbler, that wherever one species is found, 

 the other is almost certain to be within a short distance ; 

 and the birds themselves, from a certain resemblance in 

 appearance, have been frequently confounded : the Reed 

 Warbler, however, is not so abundant as a species, and the 

 distinctions by which it may be always known will be 

 particularly referred to hereafter. Like its aquatic con- 

 geners already figured, the Reed Warbler takes care to 

 secrete itself under cover of the bed of reeds or willows it 

 may chance to inhabit; it sings repeatedly in the day, 

 and sometimes also occasionally during the night. Mr. 

 Selby says its song is varied and pleasing, with fewer of 

 the harsh notes that prevail in that of the Sedge Warbler, 

 but is delivered in the same hurried manner. Mr. Sweet, 

 well known for his skill and success in keeping the British 

 Warblers in confinement, says he had a male bird of this 

 species that sung occasionally all winter. The song was 

 very loud and variable, consisting of a great number of 

 notes, and sung with many changes of voice, so diversified 

 as to resemble the song of several different birds. The 

 food of this species in a wild state is very similar to that 

 of the Sedge Warbler, namely, worms, slugs, various 

 aquatic insects, and the smaller species of dragon-flies, 

 Libellula. 



The nest of this bird is very singularly constructed and 

 sustained. That from which the vignette at the end of 



