i6 



small detached parties, large numbers seldom being 

 observed flying in company. 



Though it is very difficult to catch a glimpse of 

 them during the day, even near their nesting- 

 quarters, they may generally be seen about daybreak 

 singing on some high reed or branch of a tree. The 

 slightest sign of danger, however, is sufficient to 

 cause them to drop like a stone into the thick 

 cover, where they quietly remain, creeping about 

 like a mouse till the place is again quiet. 



One of the specimens in the case was shot near 

 Brighton, in May, 1868 ; the other in the marshes 

 near Hickling Broad, in Norfolk, in May, 1873. 



When breeding in the large tracts of furze on the 

 Downs, this bird often chooses a thorn bush among the furze, 

 on which it perches for hours, uttering almost continuously 

 its peculiar note. In such positions it will allow one to 

 creep quietly up to within a few feet of its perch, so that one 

 can see its neck swelled and throbbing with the jarring 

 sound. 



When collecting moths in the woods near Poynings, I 

 have heard the birds jarring (an octave or so above the note 

 of the Nightjar) without intermission till past one o'clock at 

 night. I have also heard them at two o'clock in the morning, 

 and have no doubt that the sound is often continued all 

 night. Ed. 



REED WARBLER. 



Case 24. 



Scientific naturalists declare we have in this 

 country two distinct species of Reed Warblers, but 

 whether this is the case or not, I leave to wiser 

 heads than mine to decide. 



Wherever reeds are abundant this bird is sure 

 to be met with, either along the banks of rivers 

 and ponds, or in large beds such as are found in 

 the neighbourhood of the broads of Norfolk and 

 Suffolk and adjoining counties. 



The nest is usually attached to three or four 

 stems of the reed ; and if rocking is a luxury to 



