THE REED WARBLER. 



green ground colour, spotted and blotched 

 with darker greyish-green and light 

 brown. 



The male helps the female not only 

 in the work of feeding the chicks, but in 

 brooding, and it is a very pretty sight to 

 see them exchanging places on the nest. 



The song of this species somewhat re- 

 sembles that of the Sedge Warbler in 

 being full of chatter, but is not so loud 

 or harsh, and is delivered, as a rule, 

 whilst the singer is hiding amongst reeds. 

 It imitates the note of the Starling, Wag- 

 tail, Swallow, and other birds, but is 

 vastly inferior to the Marsh Warbler both 

 as a musician and a mimic. I have 

 heard it at its best during a calm sum- 

 mer evening on the Norfolk Broads, 

 where it sings far into the night and 

 early in the morning, excepting during 

 windy weather, which seems to be greatly 

 disliked by all feathered inhabitants of 

 reed beds. The following extracts from 

 one of my old diaries kept during a stay 

 on Hickling Broad illustrate rather 

 graphically the influence of wind upon 

 the vocal activities of birds : 



May 27. — ■' Wmdy, dark night; not a bird 

 of any land to be heard.'' 



157 



