SYLVIA. 



soft yellowish-brown, pure on the middle part from 

 the back of the head to the upper tail-coverts, but 

 slightly marked with rust colour on the scapular- 

 feathers and the coverts of the wings ; the quills and 

 tail-feathers are of the same colour as the rest of the 

 upper part, but little deeper in the tint, and each 

 feather obscurely margined with dusky ; the ground 

 colour of the cheeks, and a small portion of the sides 

 of the upper neck, are dark brown ; the chin and 

 throat are yellowish-white, deepening into a sort of 

 brownish-yellow on the breast, and gradually fading 

 to the same tint as the throat upon the belly : all 

 these colours are so subdued, and fade so gradually 

 into each other, that the birds cannot well be de- 

 scribed by them ; there is one marking, however, 

 by which it may at once be distinguished from all 

 the other little birds that are found in the same places ; 

 from the gape, or rather from the base of the upper 

 mandible, a white streak extends in the direction of 

 the eye, but before it reaches that organ it divides 

 into two, so that that organ is enclosed in the fork ; 

 this marking being upon a dark brown ground is very 

 conspicuous, and it is constant in the species, so that 

 it is a ready means of distinction. 



This bird arrives in England about the middle of 

 April, but as it comes silently to take possession of 

 its breeding grounds, it is but little noticed. When 

 the song begins, it is rather a feeble one, but not 

 without music. It is heard to most effect in the 

 early morning, and again toward evening ; but it also 

 sings occasionally from its cover during the day. It 

 sings in concealment from the visible perch, which, 

 however, is never very high, and also in its short 

 flights. The place of the nest varies with the loca- 

 lity, being within a bush among the steins of reeds, 

 or upon a dry stool in a willow holt, according to 

 circumstances. Vegetable fibres and moss are the 

 chief materials, and the lining of the nest is finer 

 fibres, with occasionally an admixture of a few hairs. 

 The eggs are five or six in number, of a pale brownish 

 colour mottled with darker. The food consists of 

 winged insects captured among the rank vegetation ; 

 and probably also of larvae, small mollusca, and 

 worms ; indeed, all the little birds which are animal 

 feeders are pretty miscellaneous, and do not refuse 

 any kind of small life that may come in their way. 

 From the accounts, it would seem that this species is 

 more generally distributed over the country than the 

 one about to be mentioned ; but there is a degree of 

 uncertainty about all these little birds of the tall 

 vegetation by the waters, as one bird is apt to be 

 heard and another seen. The reed-warbler, or even 

 the reed-sparrow, may be the bird of which a glance 

 is barely got before it glides into its cover ; and then 

 if the observer throws a stone in order to get another 

 peep at his bird, that is sure to set the sedge-warbler 

 a singing if it happen to be in the cover. 



The Reed-Warbler (S. arundinacea), is nearly the 

 same in size as the last-mentioned species, and not 

 very different in colour. Still, however, the two can 

 be discriminated without much difficulty. The bill of 

 this one is yellowish on the under side, broader at the 

 base than that of the former species, and there are 

 two or three stiff hairs at the angle of the gape, which 

 would lead one to conclude that it feeds more ex- 

 clusively upon insects in the winged or perfect state, 

 though the mode in which it captures them has not 

 been well ascertained. The plumage of the whole 

 upper part is plain ash-brown, with the quills and 



tail-feathers edged with the same, but dusky brown 

 in the greater part of the breadth ; the under parts 

 are yellowish-white, paler on the middle, and passing 

 through a slight brownish tinge on the flanks into the 

 olive on the back ; the streak from the gape to the 

 eye is very obscure, and there is no brown on the 

 cheek to set off either it or the little pale-coloured 

 cloud on the eyebrow. This is a soft bird in its 

 colouring, but one of the least gay that are to be met 

 with. 



It comes about the same time as the sedge warbler, 

 but it does not come in such numbers, nor is it so 

 widely distributed over the country. It is chiefly 

 found near the coasts, and on the lower estuaries of 

 the great rivers, rather than on the banks of the more 

 upland streams, however rank they may be with ve- 

 getation. It is more aquatic than the sedge bird ; 

 and though they are often found in the near vicinity 

 of each other, they are not found upon precisely the 

 same spots. The sedge and the reed, after which 

 they have been called, point out tolerably well tin; 

 difference of location in the birds. The sedge and 

 the reed are very close neighbours ; but the sedge is 

 only close by the water, while the reed is in it. The 

 two birds have a similar distinction in their habitats. 

 There is generally, if not always, an earthy surface 

 under where the sedge-warbler has its nest, and that 

 nest is in general placed upon a solid support ; but 

 the reed-warbler in general nestles over the water, 

 though only where that water is thickly covered with 

 reeds. Whether those reeds are upon a flat shallow 

 of the river or on a pool, they are resorted to ; and 

 hence the bird is often found on neglected mill-ponds, 

 and other small patches of water. Where there are 

 extensive brick-works, the makers often keep reed- 

 pools upon some of the places from which the brick 

 earth has been taken, as these reeds are valuable to 

 them as covering for the bricks in the course of the 

 manufacture. There are several such reed-pools in 

 the neighbourhood of London, and wherever they 

 are they are sure to be frequented by reed-warblers 

 in the summer. When the reeds are so close as that 

 several of them can be employed to support the nest, 

 it is usually placed upon them, composed first of 

 coarser and then of finer vegetable matters, but never 

 with hair or feathers, as the bird does not frequent 

 places where these are likely to be obtained. The 

 eggs are a little larger than those of the sedge-war- 

 bler, of a greenish white colour in the ground, and 

 marked with dusky brown. So far as has been ob- 

 served, the nest is never placed on the ground, 

 though it is sometimes among the lower branches of 

 a thick tree or bush near the water, or occasionally, 

 but rarely, in a tuft of tall and shady herbaceous 

 vegetation. 



It is understood to come rather later and depart 

 earlier than the sedge warbler ; but this is not clearly 

 ascertained, as it is silent when it first comes, and 

 also before it departs. This bird has much more 

 powerful action of the feet than the former spe- 

 cies, and, when necessary, it can cling very dexte- 

 rously to the stem of a reed, though it usually perches 

 upon the leaves, or upon stems which are in a slop- 

 ing position. Its song is sweet, but so subdued that 

 it seems as if it were whispered, and it is heard only 

 at very short distances. 



Ttic Grasshopper Warbler (S. locustelUi) has been 

 sometimes described as a third species of these aquatic 

 birds ; but though it is often in situations near the 



