80 EEED WAEBLEE. 



the structure. It is formed of dried grass, long stalks, dry 

 leaves, lichens, and wool, as also at times some moss, and is 

 lined with the blossom of the reed. It generally consists of 

 two parts, a loose foundation of the first-named materials, 

 and the actual nest, which is composed almost exclusively of 

 the last-named. This upper part can sometimes be detached 

 from the lower, as if from a socket, the whole being narrow 

 and deep to secure the eggs when the reeds are swayed down, 

 so that the frail fabric, the bird all the while sitting in it, 

 is often brought close to the very water's edge. The depth 

 outside is from about three to five inches, and the inside about 

 three, by about three in width at the top and two at the 

 bottom. The nest, however, is not invariably placed among 

 reeds; it is at times found in a blackthorn, whitethorn, 

 willow, or among the clustering branches of an osier bed. 

 Mr. Sweet met with one in the low part of a poplar tree, 

 and Mr. Bolton another in a hazel bush. It is said that 

 the nests of birds of the first and second years' age are not 

 so neatly finished as those whose builders have had more 

 experience. When destroyed sometimes by floods, even two 

 or three times, these birds have been known by Mr. Briggs 

 to build a fourth. James Dalton, Esq., of Worcester College, 

 Oxford, has taken one suspended in a box tree, near the 

 piece of water which is there so great an ornament. N. 

 Eowe Esq., of the same College, has found it in a lilac tree. 

 Gr. B. Clarke, Esq., of Woburn, has also forwarded to me 

 specimens of the nest and eggs of the present species, as 

 have likewise J. Gr. Bonney, Esq., and Mr. Dalton. 



The eggs, usually four, or sometimes five or six in number, 

 are of a dull greenish white colour, spotted and freckled 

 with darker greyish green and light brown. In some in- 

 stances the spots are almost black, in others inclining to a 

 brownish green; occasionally the egg is marked with one or 

 two little black lines at the broad end. The arrangement 

 of the spots is endless some varieties are equally marked 

 all over; in some the spots are in a ring round the broad 

 end; in others the base is covered; some are but slightly 

 marked; others are completely covered over; one rare variety 

 has been seen almost white, faintly mottled with pale grey 

 blots; some quite white have been known. They are frequently 

 not laid until after the beginning of June. 



The young are hatched in July, and are said to quit the 

 nest soon, being able, before acquiring the art of flying, to 



