140 BRITISH BIRDS. 



THE SEDGE WARBLER. 



OR SEDGK UIKI). 



(Sylvia Phragniih's, Bechst. J3cc-fi-n pliraguiitc, 

 Temm.) 



LENGTH five inches. Bill dusky; eyes hazel; 

 crown of the head and back brown, with dusky 

 streaks ; rump tawny ; cheeks brown ; over each 

 eye a light streak ; wing coverts dusky, edged 

 with pale brown, as are the quills and tail; throat, 

 breast, and belly are white, the latter tinged with 

 yellow; thighs yellow; legs dusky; the hinder claws 

 much bent. 



It frequents the sides of rivers and boggy places, 

 where reeds and sedges grow, and builds there ; 

 the nest is made of dried grass, and tender fibres 

 of plants, lined with hair, and usually contains five 

 eggs of a dirty w r hite, mottled and streaked with 

 brown: it sings night and day, during the breed- 

 ing time, imitating by turns the notes of various 

 birds, from which it is also called the English Mock 

 Bird. This and some others of the Warblers are 

 so shy, that they will quit the nest if it be touched 

 by any one. 



