356 INSECTIVOILE. 



generally of a pale and nearly uniform brown, or with very 

 obscure mottling ; that of the reed warbler is very pale 

 greenish- white, closely mottled with darker green and brown. 



The note of the reed warbler, though decidedly a warble, 

 consisting of a melody of several hurried notes, is a very 

 subdued warble, and heard only at short distances. 



That the bird is not adapted for so many situations as the 

 sedge bird, might be inferred from the different form of the 

 tail : it is more produced, and not wedge-shaped ; so that 

 while it answers better as a balance on the bending reeds, or 

 other flexible aquatic plants, it would not be so convenient 

 among the unyielding sprays of a hedge or brake. The bird 

 rarely, if ever, perches on the top of the reeds, even on its 

 first arrival, and when the song of invitation to a mate is 

 given, its place is on a leaf, or on a leaning stem, though, 

 upon emergency, it can cling to an upright one, the stiff 

 feathers of the tail acting as a sort of prop. It is not easily 

 raised, and remains a very short time on the wing ; but it is 

 by no means timid on its perch, upon which, if very flexible, 

 it sits with its wings not quite closed, but recovered, so as 

 to have a little hold on the air, and thereby either prevent 

 its fall, or be ready, when a gust comes, to bear it to a more 

 secure footing. Its food is found wholly over the stagnant 

 waters. 



By no means the worst place, in the neighbourhood of 

 London, for observing the habits of this local and very 

 interesting bird, is between Shepherd's Bush and Hammer- 

 smith. The soil there is a retentive ague-provoking clay, 

 which has not been improved in anything save perhaps 

 the herbage during drought, by the oozings of the Grand 

 Junction Canal on the height to the north. The ground 

 there has been much dug for brick earth ; water stagnates 

 in the excavations, and soon becomes thick with reeds : 

 those reeds are useful to the brickmakers in covering the 



