CHAPTER III. 



SEDGE WARBLER — REED WARBLER GRASSHOPPER 



WARBLER WAGTAILS. 



If there is any spot in our country whicli, by 

 the richness of its vegetation, might remind us of 

 the scenery of the tropics, it is the border of our 

 stream or river. The water-side has often an 

 aspect of peculiar beauty and fertility, for most 

 aquatic plants produce a great number of seeds, 

 and moisture is every way favourable to vegetable 

 development. Around and in the still river, 

 thousands of flowers are crowding, and the tall 

 brown feathery plume of the reed nods beside 

 the brown bulrush, and is shaken by every wind 

 which brings a ripple on the surface. Rich 

 pm-ple willow herbs cluster there, and the tall 

 iris, with its petals of gold, rises above the white 

 and yellow water lilies, whose large leaves cover 

 the surface. Bright green sprays of the duck- 

 weeds and pondweeds are spread out on the water, 



