Reed Warbler 



' watching. He keeps entirely concealed by the reeds among 

 which he lives, creeping along from one to another and 

 assuming all kinds of strange attitudes. Now he hangs 

 head downwards, . or again, grasping a neighbouring reed 

 with one foot, he will swing himself round and climb 

 straddle-legged up two reeds, till on reaching the top he will 

 perhaps take a short flight, only to dive in again a few feet 

 farther on. 



The nest is a most beautiful structure, carefully supported 

 on four or five growing reeds which pass right through its 

 walls and thus hold it secure. For the size of the bird it is 

 extremely deep, a wise provision to prevent the eggs from 

 being rolled out when the reeds are bent with the wind. The 

 materials used are dry grass, bents, and moss, with a lining of 

 finer materials. The eggs, four in number, are pale green, 

 thickly freckled and mottled with a darker tone of the same 

 colour. 



When the young are hatched the inside of their mouths 

 is of a deep red colour with two very conspicuous black 

 spots towards the hinder end of the tongue ; at this time the 

 song of the parent ceases and we hear and see but little 

 more of this species. With the autumn gales he leaves us 

 for the marshes of Spain or the deadly swamps of Africa, 

 where the small flies and insects on which he feeds may be 

 found in abundance at all seasons. 



The upper parts are of a uniform warm brown, slightly 

 brighter on the rump, and there is a pale buff stripe over the 

 eye. The under parts are white, the flanks and under tail 

 coverts huffish. Length 5'25 in.; wing 25 in. 



It is unknown in Scotland and Ireland 



61 



