7542 Birds. 



though to all appearance an old one, far out of reach. Accompanied 

 bv L , I hastened with all speed to the ferry ; and having pro- 

 cured the assistance of the boatman, we soon had the satisfaction of 

 taking our first reed thrush's nest. Though having a somewhat 

 weather-beaten and untidy appearance, it was nevertheless a new 

 one, and contained three eggs. It was firmly built round the stems 

 of the reeds, and was composed of dry leaves of the reeds themselves, 

 which gradually became smaller towards the inside, where a few 

 blades of grass were neatly interwoven. Its shape was narrow and 

 deep, and altogether it had much the appearance of the nest of a reed 

 wren, but it was much larger and less carefully constructed." The 

 eggs differ considerably in size and colour : in my own collection I 

 have the following varieties : — 



1. Dull white, faintly tinged with green, blotched and spotted with 



light brown and dark greenish brown, some specimens with 

 and others without a few bluish gray spots. 



2. Resembling the above in colour, but with the marks very much 



smaller, and more uniformly distributed. 



3. Clear bright greenish blue, with large spots of very dark brown 



and bluish gray. 



4. Bluish green, with a few faint gray marks near the small end. 



Eggs from the same nest seldom differ much in colour. Other par- 

 ticulars relating to this bird having already been del^cribed by Mr. 

 Hancock, a mere repetition of them here would be superfluous. 



Reed Wren {S. arundinacea) . Summer visitor. 



Nightingale [S. Philomela). Ditto. 



Blackcap {S. atricapilla). Ditto. 



Garden Warbler [S. liortensis) . Summer. Early in August I saw 

 a brood of unfledged young, in all probability a second brood. They 

 were constantly supplied with flies and small caterpillars, of which the 

 parent birds collected a large store, in a kind of pouch below the bill, 

 before returning to the nest. The flies were taken upon the wing, the 

 birds darling from the bush in which they were sitting, and never 

 failing to secure one at every attempt. Towards the close of the 

 breeding-season garden warblers, both old and young, were brought 

 almost daily to the uaarkets. 



Whitethroat («S'. ciiierea). Arrives about the end of April, and pairs 

 almost immediately afterwards. I found a nest nearly twice the 

 usual size, composed entirely of hay, of which there happened to be 

 a large quantity in the ditch beneath. 



Lesser Whitethroat {S. curruca). Summer. 



