TEE REED WAEBLER. 113 



is dancing there in intricate mazes. Tlie reed- 

 lings seem to live in perfect harmony with tlie 

 sedcje birds, and sing and build among the rushes 

 witli them. The reed warbler, however, differs 

 from them in this, that it never flits away to a 

 neighbouring bough to sing, but confines itself 

 closely to the reedy shore. The song is more 

 sweet and varied than that of the sedge warbler, 

 and though hurried, and sometimes apparently 

 imitative of other birds, yet it is not intermingled 

 with many harsh notes. It may be heard chiefly 

 at morning or evening twilight. At times it 

 resembles the words " tran, tran, tran," repeated 

 a dozen or fifteen times in succession. And it is 

 so loud that it may be heard far away from the 

 stream side. 



The nest of the reed warbler is very beautiful. 

 It is a long, deep structure, and is hung upon the 

 reeds, or rather intermixed among them ; three 

 reeds serving as poles for its support. It is formed 

 of branches of reeds and long grass wound round 

 and round, and mingled with a good quantity of 

 wool. The deptli of the nest affords security both 

 to the eggs and nestlings, so that though the wind 

 may shake the reeds ever so much, they are not 



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