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and mixed with sheep's wool, feathers, and a few black horsehairs. They are for the most part 

 very compactly made, and in some cases will bear much handling without disarranging the 

 materials ; yet this is not always the case, as I have seen some taken on Hickling Broad, built on 

 very slender reeds, and so loosely constructed that I wondered they held together at all ; but at 

 the spot where these were found the ground was covered with a sort of wild convolvulus or 

 creeper, whose tendrils encircling both the reeds and the nest had a very pretty appearance, and 

 afforded an unusual support. The ordinary number of reeds selected is three, round which the 

 materials are firmly woven, so as to include them all in the structure, whilst the nest is placed, 

 with instinctive judgment, neither low enough to be affected by the rising of the water, nor yet 

 high enough to be influenced too powerfully by the wind. Occasionally a nest may be found on 

 four reeds ; and I once found one on five, and another on two ; but these are exceptional cases. 

 Arriving here later than the Sedge- Warblers, the nests of the reed-birds are seldom completed 

 before the end of May; and the young are hatched about the first week in July. In 1852 a 

 Reed-Warbler's nest was found built in a bush near a pond at Beacon Ash ; but even in this 

 unusual situation its general character was preserved, being suspended on three tivigs of the bush, 

 built into it in place of the reeds. This is one of the very few instances in which I have known 

 these birds to breed in any locality not adjacent to reed-beds; but at Ranworth, where the broad 

 joins the garden of Mr. John Kerrison, I have frequently seen the nests of this Warbler built 

 into the laurel bushes by the water's edge, in the same manner as I have just described ; and in 

 the summer of 1861 I was shown four or five which had been found in various shrubs in a 

 kitchen-garden at Lakenham, situated by the river-side, with a reed-bed and osier-ground in close 

 proximity. In each of these, twigs of the respective plants were ingeniously woven into the 

 structure itself; and though somewhat shallow, they all retain much of their normal character. 

 The most curious fact, however, in connexion with these nests, was finding a Cuckoo's egg in 

 three of them, and a young Cuckoo, of course ' per se,' in the fourth. This youngster was 

 kept alive for some weeks in confinement, and presented the most absurd appearance when, 

 having grown too large for it, it still attempted to nestle down in its original cradle. Occasion- 

 ally, but rarely, I have known a Cuckoo's egg deposited in the nest of this species when placed 

 as usual amongst the reeds ; but in the above four instances, increased size and depth and 

 easiness of access afforded, no doubt, peculiar attractions. One nest, which had been built in the 

 centre of a currant-bush, presented a most novel and beautiful appearance, the dry materials 

 contrasting with the green foliage, whilst the young fruit hung in bunches above and around it. 

 This species, like the Sedge- Warbler, is an incessant songster, heard at short intervals throughout 

 the day, except in windy weather, but saving its choicest music for the twilight hours. Its 

 lavish notes are thus associated in my mind with many a calm summer's night on the open 

 broads, the stars shining brightly overhead, and the soft breeze sighing through the rustling 

 reeds, mingled with the hum of insect life on the water. It is at such times that the song of 

 these marsh Nightingales is heard to perfection. All is still around, save those murmuring 

 sounds that seem to lull to sleep ; the barking of the watch-dog has ceased in the distance ; and 

 the hoarse croak of the Coot or Moorhen harmonizes too well with the scene to startle with its 

 frequent repetition. Presently, as if by magic, the reed-beds on all sides are teeming with 

 melody ; now here, now there, first one, then another and another of the reed-birds pour forth 



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