THE REED WARBLER 79 
an exceedingly loud, noisy, boisterous voice, as if 
the bird were in the highest possible spirits. Very 
unlike that of many of the singers ; the Nightingale, 
for instance, to every one sounds sad, plaintive, 
beautiful, but distinctly not cheerful. I have heard 
the Reed Warbler very often at many points on 
the Nile where there were no reed beds, but only 
stunted tamarisk or other shrubs, but in the great 
reed beds on and outside Lake Menzaleh I have 
both seen and heard it in great numbers, and the 
quite extraordinary penetrating noise that a number 
make when together is most remarkable. It is a 
most charming active little bird, a perfect acrobat, 
and it sings as blithely upside down as it does 
right side up. But the most attractive thing about 
its life-history is its nest; this it builds in the 
very heart of some thick clump of reeds. The 
accompanying picture shows how when the wind 
blows the cradle does rock ; but it matters not how 
much it rocks, the wise bird builds the nest so 
deep that the eggs lying snug at the bottom 
never get tilted out. In Egypt the bird is, like 
the bulk of visitors, but a winter migrant. As it 
is insectivorous it is of some use in keeping down 
the host of flies great and small, and it is said to 
be partial to mosquitoes, which should make every 
