1 84 Marsh. 



charming musical notes carried far into the still silence of a 

 midsummer night, whilst the grasshopper warbler almost 

 rivals it in this nocturnal minstrelsy. With delicately 

 modulated, ever-changing tones, these two songsters form an 

 almost complete bird-orchestra by themselves in their even- 

 ing concerts, whilst by day the little reed-warbler dodges in 

 and out among the reeds, now and again trilling its simple 

 melody, and occasionally joining in the later concerts of its 

 summer friends. Occasionally one may find the interesting 



l'io. 38. TURNSTONE (Strepnilas interpret). 



nest of the last-mentioned bird, interwoven with the greatest 

 care among the reedstalks, forming with its round, broad 

 top and pointed bottom, a deep, inverted cone, in which, 

 when the wind blows strongly and the reeds are almost 

 forced down to the water's edge, the four greenish-white 

 and red-freckled eggs or the downy young ones rock safely 

 to and fro. In the shallow pools the graceful dotterell some- 

 times abounds in the autumn, whilst the stately heron, far 

 from his home in Cobham Park, may be seen all the year 

 round, fishing in the pools for his daily bread. 



