a fiew Engllfh Bird, 12 



Its food is infects, at leaft in part, for I obferved it catching 

 flies. It hops continually from fpray to fpray, or from one 

 reed to another, putting itfelf into a ftooping pofture before it 

 moves. I heard it make no other than a fmgle note, not un- 

 like the found of the word peep, uttered in a low plaintive 

 tone; but this might probably be only a note of difrrefs, and 

 it may have, perhaps, more pleafing and melodious ones at 

 other times, with which I am unacquainted. 



The neft of tliis bird is a mod: curious ftrudlure, unlike that 

 of any other I am acquainted with, enough to point out the 

 difference of the fpecies, if every other charader was wanting. 



It may not be amifs here to obferve, that there is fuch a 

 manifeft diverfity in the materials, locality, and formation of 

 nefts, and fuch variety of colours in the eggs of many birds 

 (in other refpeds hard to be diftinguiflied), that it is pity this 

 part of Ornithology has not been more attended to. I am well 

 convinced, that as many fpecies of i?ife5is, nearly allied to each 

 other in colours and (hape, and reputed loht only varieties, are 

 frequently, from a due attention to their larv{£ (which are often 

 extremely different), difcovered to be fpecies totally dijlinSl ; fo, 

 amongft birds of fimilar genus and feather, their true differences 

 may be often found by carefully obferving their nefts and eggs, 

 when other charafters are fo minute, in the birds themfelves,, 

 as to be diftinguifhed with difficulty. By experience I have 

 found this to be remarkably verified in feme of the Lark kind. 



But to return to the neft I was going to defcribe. It is com- 

 pofed externally of dry ftalks of grafs, lined, for the mofl 

 part, with the flowery tufts of the common reed, or Arundo 

 vallatoria, but fometimes with fmall dead graffes, and a few 

 black horfe-hairs to cover them. This neft is ufually found 



fufpcnded- 



