SYLVIAD&. 79 



twit' of the Swallow in rapid succession : it has 

 been known also to imitate the note of the Starling 

 and the Missel Thrush, as well as the call of the 

 Wryneck. It has been argued that these so-called 

 imitations of the notes of other birds is a part of 

 the usual song of the Sedge Warbler, and not an 

 imitation at all : and this opinion is probably the 

 correct one. 



The Sedge Warbler leaves us in the middle of 

 September : I have occasionally seen a few which 

 linger on until the end of the month, and Mr. 

 Yarrell, at page 290 of the first volume of his 

 ' History of British Birds/ relates, that ' on one 

 occasion a single specimen was observed near High 

 Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, in winter/ but gives 

 no date. The Sedge Warbler breeds in tolerable 

 numbers along the banks of the Thames and Colne, 

 and in the reeds and flags which surround many 

 ornamental pieces of water and small streams in 

 different parts of the two counties. The nest is 

 usually placed near the ground, often between the 

 branches of a young osier or willow ; sometimes 

 it is built upon the bank, and at others, in the 

 reeds in the middle of a pond or lake. The eggs 

 are generally five or six in number, but in the 

 spring of 1867, I found a nest containing the un- 

 usual number of nine. 



Beetles, and various small water insects, con- 

 stitute the principal food of the Sedge Warbler. 



