402 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



1893. — The osiers had been cut in the winter, and the place 

 was entirely altered. It was not till June 20th that I again 

 heard the song in another small osier-bed about half a mile 

 along the line towards Worcester, which was as wild and over- 

 grown as the other had been the year before. It was about half 

 an acre in size, comparatively dry, and with small open spaces 

 here and there. By watching from the railway embankment I 

 found the position of a nest which was being built, on June 21st. 

 On the 22nd an egg was laid, and on the 23rd we took this nest 

 with two eggs for the Oxford Museum. It was suspended by 

 two quasi-handles from the slender shoots of the osiers, where 

 they were least overgrown, and within ten yards of cultivated 

 ground. The material was dry grass, with a few hairs in the 

 lining. I then went abroad, and saw no more of the birds this 

 year. 



1894, June 16th. — The bird was singing in the same place as 

 last year, the osiers being still wild and uncut. Absence from 

 home prevented further observation. 



1895, June 11th. — Bird in the same place. Oxford duties 

 had prevented me from searching for it earlier. A nest had been 

 begun by the 23rd, and on the 26th it contained two eggs. This 

 year I had unusually good opportunities of watching the birds 

 about the nest, which was in willow-herb near a thick hedge, in 

 which I cut a hole. The hen, when seen on the nest at a yard's 

 distance, showed a distinct buffish eye-stripe. Two eggs were 

 hatched on July 10th, after which date I was obliged to leave 

 home. 



1896, June 5£/i.— Bird singing in the same place, which seems 

 to have become the permanent breeding place of the species. 

 The osiers are still neglected and wild. The singing continued 

 till the 13th, when it almost entirely ceased ; this meant, as I 

 had already discovered, that the nest had been begun. On June 

 27th I found a nest with four eggs in osier-shoots two feet from 

 the ground. On July 12th I found (after an absence) four nest- 

 lings, and followed their growth closely till the 16th, when they 

 flew. They remained among the osiers till July 22nd (cf. ' Zoolo- 

 gist,' 1896, pp. 286-8). 



1897, June 4th. — Bird singing in the usual place. On the 

 7th there seemed to be two singers. Song almost ceased on the 



