354 BRITISH BIRDS. 



April, its appearance usually being noted a little earlier in the southern 

 than in the northern counties. In Ireland it appears to arrive even later 

 still. Thompson states that it appears in the neighbourhood of Belfast 

 during the first ten days of May, but he has known it to arrive as early 

 as the 16th of April. It would also appear to depart in the autumn earlier 

 from Ireland, the same careful writer giving the 5th of September as the 

 latest date he has known it to be met with ; but in England it remains 

 until the end of September, and has even been met with in Norfolk on the 

 20th of October. 



The Sedge-Warbler is by no means, as its name would possibly suggest, 

 confined to the sedges and the reeds. Its haunts are as much in the 

 tangled brake and dense vegetation of marshy plantations as amongst the 

 ever-murmuring reeds. It is especially fond of frequenting the stunted 

 willow-bushes by the water-side. The Sedge- Warbler is much more often 

 heard than seen. Like all the Reed-Warblers it is a shy and retiring 

 little bird, although now and then its curiosity seems to get the better 

 of its habitual shyness, and prompts it to mount to the top of some 

 waving spray to take a more extensive view of the world than can be 

 obtained from the seclusion of its shady haunt. Sometimes a hurried 

 glimpse of it may be got as it hops rapidly from one twig to another ; 

 but it soon disappears again, and its harsh notes are the only sign of its 

 presence. Although such a skulking little fellow, the Sedge-Warbler may 

 always be detected by its song. If it is not actually to be seen, a stone 

 thrown into its favourite retreat will rouse it from its reverie, and cause 

 it to start its song at once — a song of seeming defiance and mockery, 

 as though the cunning little musician knew full well that it was able to 

 elude detection at will. When thus aroused it will often mount to the 

 top of the bushes and, for a few moments, warble forth its lay in full 

 view, shifting restlessly about in the meantime as if fearful of its own 

 boldness. 



The song of the Sedge-Warbler is most pertinaciously kept up. It 

 somewhat resembles that of the Whitethroat, but has a much larger 

 range of notes. It is qu.ite as vehemently uttered. Some of its notes 

 are round, full, and rich ; but many parts of the song are almost as 

 harsh as the notes of the House-Sparrow. The Sedge-Warbler will also 

 appear to imitate the songs of other birds, and varies its own performance 

 so as often to make the hearer imagine that it is introducing the notes of 

 its neighbours. It not unfrequently sings as it flies ; and it is also one 

 of the few feathered musicians that regularly warble at night. In Ireland 

 this habit has gained for the bird the title of " Irish Nightingale ;" but 

 the music of that sweet chorister is beyond all comparison finer than the 

 " Sedge-bird's ■'•' garrulous song. In the pairing-season especially, it sings 

 so loudly as to often appear but a few feet from the observer when in 



