Like all its congeners it is insectivorous, although in autumn it devours 

 currants and elder-berries, or any other soft fruit. At times it may be seen 

 chasing an insect across some still piece of water, dropping into the reeds 

 as soon as it has captured its prey. 



Nest -building seldom commences before the beginning of June, eggs 

 being rarely found before the end of the first week. Sometimes the nest is 

 built in willow-bushes, especially if they overhang the water; but as a rule it 

 is slung between two or three reeds in the middle of some dense reed-bed. 

 The easiest way to find the nests of these birds is to wade among the tall 

 reeds and gently bend them aside with a stick. The outside of the nest is 

 principally built of roots and dry grass-stalks with a little moss added, but 

 some nests are embellished with bits of wool, a feather or two, or a little 

 vegetable down ; the lining of the nest is sometimes very fine dry grass, and 

 sometimes small rootlets. During the nesting season the Reed -Warbler is a 

 very quarrelsome bird, and drives off all comers from its own particular patch 

 of reeds. The vicinity of the nest is usually betrayed by the male beginning to 

 sing, and both birds are generally found in close proximity to the nest. In a long 

 ditch full of tall reeds each nest is at some distance from the next, and the 

 males vie with each other in singing their loudest. It is only among the 

 densest parts of the reed-beds that the birds build ; when the reeds are slender 

 and not close together no nests will be found and few birds seen. The nest 

 is very deep for its breadth, no doubt being specially built so in order to keep 

 the eggs from rolling out when the reeds are blown about in a storm. 



The eggs laid vary in number from three to five. They do not go 

 through any great variety of colour. The ground-colour is a pale greenish 

 blue, blotched and spotted with greenish brown surface-markings, the under- 

 lying markings being somewhat paler and greyer than the others. On some 

 specimens the markings are large and bold, and are usually most numerous 

 on the larger end of the egg; on others they are evenly distributed over the 

 entire shell, and take the form of small streaks and spots, while on some 

 specimens there are a few streaky marks, almost black. The eggs of the 

 Reed-Warbler vary in length from 77 to 70 inch, and in breadth from -55 

 to '49 inch. Only one brood is reared in the year. 



54 



