324 SUMMER. 



male cricket ; the sedge warbler, (sylvia phragmitis), 

 which has more voice, and is, in fact, a sort of mock- 

 ing bird, imitating snatches of the notes of other birds, 

 but blending them with a peculiar note of its own ; and 

 the reed wren. These birds all have a considerable 

 resemblance to each other ; they are dull brown and 

 green above, and yellowish white on the under part ; 

 but the first has the back greener than the others ; the 

 second more brown ; and the third a mixture of the 

 two. There are many smaller differences, but they 

 may be distinguished from each other by these, and 

 also by their notes ; those of the first and second 

 having no resemblance whatever to the notes of any 

 other British birds. The locality is also not quite the 

 same, as the nest of the grasshopper warbler is not 

 among the reeds and marsh plants like those of the 

 others, but in the furze and other bushes near the 

 water. It is also a thicker bird than the others ; and, 

 though of the same length, (about 5^ inches,) it weighs 

 almost a fourth more, being half an ounce ; the eggs, 

 too, are an unequivocal distinction : the first has them 

 bluish white without any spots ; the second light brown 

 with dark brown spots : and the third dirty white with 

 olive spots. The number of eggs is much the same in 

 all. The nests of the sedge and reed warblers are con- 

 structed in those plants from which they take their 

 names, or in other aquatic plants ; and the construc- 

 tion shows a good deal of ingenuity. They are firmly 

 attached to a sufficient number of stalks for preventing 

 any accident ; the mass of dry materials is so great, 

 that it would not only float if detached, but float so 

 far out of the water, as that the eggs would not come 



