BRITISH BIRDS. 221 



and her head is variegated with black and rust 

 colour; the white on her under parts is not so 

 pure, but of a reddish cast. 



Birds of this species frequent fens and marshy 

 places, where there is abundance of rushes, among* 

 which they nestle. The nest is composed of dry 

 grass, and lined with the soft down of the reed; it 

 is fixed with great art between four reed stalks, 

 two on each side, almost close to each other, and 

 about three feet above the water. The female lays 

 four or five eggs, pale bluish white, veined irre- 

 gularly with purple, principally at the larger end. 

 As its chief resort is among reeds, it is supposed 

 that the seeds of that plant are its principal food: 

 it is however frequently seen in the higher grounds 

 near the roads, and sometimes in corn fields. 

 They keep near the ground, and seldom perch 

 except among the low bushes. The male, during 

 the time of hatching, has a soft, melodious, warb- 

 ling song, whilst he sits perched among the reeds, 

 and is frequently heard in the night time. It is a 

 watchful, timorous bird, and very easily alarmed; 

 in captivity it sings but little, and only when per- 

 fectly undisturbed. 



They are said to be migratory in France; with 

 us they remain the whole year, and are seldom 

 seen in flocks of more than three or four together. 

 That from which the foregoing figure was taken, 

 was caught during a severe storm in the middle of 

 winter. 



