THE REED WARBLER 



be judged, in which a Reed Warbler never by any chance is 

 seen. The vivid green spears of the reeds are showing 

 well above the brown, rotten growth of the preceding 

 year and vegetation by the waterside is becoming full 

 and generous before the Reed Warbler appears at the end 

 of April or the beginning of May. Already hosts of 

 summer migrants are filling the woods and fields with 

 music before the first strains of the Reed-bird's chattering 

 melody issue from the greenery of the waterside. Once 

 here, however, he is a persistent songster indeed, and his 

 voice day and night is a pleasing feature of his haunt. 

 The song in parts is harsh and grating enough, but there 

 are interludes of singular power and sweetness ; he mars 

 his best endeavour by introducing jarring fragments that 

 seem to interpret defiance and anger rather than joy. 

 It is a song of wild contrasts, varied in the extreme, and 

 occasionally sounds as if the performer were threading the 

 notes of half a dozen other birds into his own refrain. 

 The Reed-birds are shy enough, or perhaps we ought 

 rather to say that they prefer the cool, green seclusion of 

 the rustling reeds to the sweltering sunlight of the outer 

 growth. Here more likely than not a trembling stem 

 or a harsh churr are the only signs of their presence ; 

 but at fitful intervals a glimpse is obtained of a bird 

 crossing the more open waterways amongst the reeds 

 and osiers, or clinging to a bending stem, to drop down 

 again at once into cover. Now and then you may be 

 fortunate enough to see a bird flitting to and fro or run- 

 ning mouse-like up the round, polished stalks of the reeds, 

 singing all the time. The song is most prevalent in 

 calm, warm weather ; rough wind and a cool atmosphere 

 are not conducive to music. They are quarrelsome little 

 creatures, resent intrusion, and each pair appear to have 

 vested rights in some particular spot, from which they 

 seek to drive off all trespassers. Pairing begins soon after 

 their arrival, and the eggs are laid in May or early June, 



