136 BIRDS' NESTS. 



open country, because probably flies are there 

 more abundant. The nest is made of moss, 

 bents, and roots, lined with dry grass, hair, 

 and feathers. The eggs are very similar to 

 those of the robin ; but the ground has more 

 of a bluish or greenish tinge, and the spots 

 are larger and of a more decided red. 



REED WARBLER. Salicaria arundinacea. 



PLATE IX. FIG. 2. 



I HAVE never seen the nest of this bird : but 

 to judge from the description and figure of 

 one given by Yarrell, it must be a very in- 

 teresting object. " It was supported between 

 four reed-stems, and was taken from a bed of 

 reeds on the side of the Thames, the surface 

 soil of which was covered by water every tide, 

 or twice in every twenty-four hours. The nest 

 is formed of the seed branches of the reeds, and 

 very long grass wound horizontally round and 

 round, including the four upright reeds in the 

 substance thus forming with a little wool the 



