ON THE NESTING OF THE MARSH WARBLER. 287 



or its surroundings at the time — e.g. Whitethroat, Reed Bunting, 

 Chaffinch, Tree Pipit, &c. 



On the 13th the singing ceased, nor did I bear it again except 

 in occasional snatches. This has been my experience every year 

 about the middle of June, and I am driven to conclude that in 

 this country the song practically ceases when the nest-building 

 begins. In Switzerland I have several times heard this bird in 

 full song close to nest and eggs. 



There was, however, just sufficient indication of the bird's 

 presence to lead me to make gradual search in one portion of the 

 osiers; and here, on the 27th, I found the nest with five eggs. 

 The spot was but a few yards from that chosen last year ; 

 and again I had to admire the skill, aided no doubt by good 

 fortune, with which the birds contrived to escape all mishaps. 

 Ploughs and ploughboys have been at work, weeds have been 

 burnt, and grass cut within a very few feet of the nest, yet a few 

 simple precautions on my part have been enough to secure it from 

 discovery. I suspect, however, that an earlier nest had been 

 destroyed before its completion, for this one was the most fragile 

 I have ever seen, and was evidently built in a great hurry. It 

 was composed entirely of dry grass, without the usual lining of 

 horsehair, and also without any moss on the outside. It was 

 placed in the fork of an osier-sapling at about a foot and a half 

 from the ground, and had three or four shoots of meadow-sweet 

 woven into the rim. As usual, it was quite close to the edge of 

 the osier-bed, and well away from water. 



I was now able to visit the nest daily, and as I frequently 

 had the birds within a couple of yards of my head I became 

 very familiar with their appearance and alarm-notes. I cannot 

 agree with the writers who describe this species as having the 

 upper parts ofoYe-brown at this time of year : I can discern 

 nothing approaching to a greenish hue in the living bird, unless 

 it be perhaps towards the tail. The colour is to my eye a pale 

 earth-brown, uniform all over the back. The head is slightly 

 darker; the legs are pale or dull flesh-colour ; the stripe over the 

 eye is barely visible in one of the pair — I am not sure which ; in 

 the other it is a faint buff. The alarm-note is much like that of 

 the Sedge Warbler, but higher in pitch and less grating : I learnt 

 to distinguish the two without difficulty. When much excited 

 the birds— or possibly the male only— would utter a musical 



