112 OUR NATIVE SONGSTERS. 



coarse bents, thickly lined with hair, and the eggs 

 are of a pale yellowish-brown colour, with darker 

 streaks of the same hue. Early in May, great 

 numbers of these nests lie concealed among the 

 sedges which grow around the borders of the 

 Thames. 



This bh'd is but a summer visitor to our land, 

 coming hither in April, and staying till October ; 

 and its companion among the sedges, the Reed 

 Warbler,* or Reed Wren {Sah'can'a anoidiimced), 

 arrives at about the same season, though it usually 

 departs earlier in tlic year. Though it wears a 

 sober suit, this bird, too, is a gladsome creature, 

 and, like its congener, lives on the food to be found 

 in and near the waters, feasting on the little worms 

 and slugs which lie among the leaves, or seizing 

 the fresh-water shell-hsh when it comes to breathe 

 the air of the surface, easily disposing of the 

 shelly house, by breaking the fragile tenement with 

 its beak. Nor do our birds hesitate to arrest the 

 brilliant dragon-fly which soars around the stream, 

 or to stop suddenly the singing of the gnat, which 



* The Eeed Warbler is five inches and a half in length. 

 Upper parts pale reddish-brown without spots ; chin and throat 

 white ; breast and belly pale buff ; beak and feet pale brown. 



