THE SINGING BIRDS. 259 



top turned inwards, to render the nestlings" secure in a high wind. The walls are thick, formed of 

 grass, stalks, fibres, and wool, lined with cobwebs, horsehair, and similar materials. The eggs, four 

 or five in number, are of a bluish or greenish-white tint, spotted and veined with dark brown and 

 grey ; the young are hatched in about a fortnight, should the parent be undisturbed, and are tended 

 with great affection, even long after they are fully fledged. The Reed Warblers, as we leam from 

 Dr. Bennett, are commonly met with in Australia. " One species" (Acrocephalus Australls), he tells us, 

 " is very numerous about the sedgy localities of the Nepean river ; and although it has been denied 

 that any of the Australian birds are endowed with a musical voice, this bird has a very loud, pleasing 

 song, enlivening the places it frequents. It is a migratory species, arriving in the spring season — 

 i.e., about September — and taking its departure as winter commences. It builds its nest, suspended 

 among the reeds, in a similar manner to its congeners in Europe ; it is composed of the thin 

 epidermis of reeds interwoven with dried rushes. The sexes are alike. I did not see the eggs in the 

 nests, but they are stated to be four in number, of a greyish-white colour, thickly marked all over 

 with irregular blotches and markings of yellowish brown, umber brown, and bluish grey." 



The large Reed Warbler of India {Acrocephalus brunncscens) is, according to Jerdon, very similar 

 to the European species, but differs in being something smaller in the relative size of the primaries, 

 the greater length of the wing, and the greater intensity of its colour. 



The larger Reed Warblei is found in most parts of India in the cold weather, for it is only a 

 winter visitant. It extends into Assam, Aracan, and China, in some parts of which latter country it 

 probably breeds. It frequents high reeds and grasses, high grain fields and gardens, where it hunts 

 among the rows of peas, beans, and other vegetables. It clings strongly to the stalks of grain, and 

 makes its way adroitly through thick grass or bushes, concealing itself when observed, and being with 

 difficulty driven out. It feeds on small grasshoppers, ants, and other insects. " I have," continues 

 our author, " heard it occasionally utter a harsh, clucking kind of note." 



The SEDGE WARBLERS {Calamodus) are distinguished from the birds above described 

 by their inferior size, and by the comparative shortness of their wings, in which the third quill 

 is the longest ; the tail, moreover, is very decidedly rounded, and their plumage spotted. 



THE SEDGE WARBLER. 

 The Sedge Warbler ( Calamodus bhragmitis) is about five inches and a half long, and eight 

 and a quarter broad ; the wing measures two and a quarter, and the tail two inches. The plumage 

 on the upper portion of the body is yellowish brown, spotted with dark brown, the under side a 

 reddish white ; a yellow streak passes over the eyes, and the posterior quills have light edges. The 

 eye is brown, the beak brownish black, except at its margins, and the base of the under mandible, 

 which are of a light yellowish red ; the foot is dirty yellow. In the young, the mantle is reddish 

 grey and the under side reddish yellow, spotted on the region of the crop with dark grey or 

 brown. This species inhabits all the European countries that extend from 68° north latitude as far 

 as Greece and Spain, usually arriving in April and leaving again in October, when it wanders as 

 far as Northern Africa. In the latter continent it is often seen upon the plains covered with halfa' 

 grass, but in Europe it always frequents such marshy districts as are overgrown with rushes, sedge, 

 grass, and small-leafed water plants. Its flight is very unsteady, but in other respects its movements 

 are unusually nimble and agile ; the song is pleasing, flute-like, and very varied. Except during the 

 period of incubation, which commences in June, these birds usually lead a very retired life amid 

 the beds of grass or rushes, but at the latter season they emerge, and take up their quarters on the 

 surrounding trees and bushes, where they engage in a series of vocal concerts, each inspired with 



