MARSH WARBLER 



commonly think. What it really loves best, and rarely finds 

 in England except in some parts of Somersetshire and 

 Cambridgeshire, where it first attracted notice, is a large 

 space of flat alluvial ground, with convenient bits of cover, 

 such as thick bunches of tall plants scattered here and there." 

 My experience does not altogether bear out the foregoing 

 statement, for it shows that the species not only can but 

 does adapt itself to a variety of situations. Perpendicular 

 shoots of osiers or indeed of any plant are not a necessity. 

 In Texel the bird is plentiful enough in the w r ell grown 

 plantations, and in this country it often nests in similar 

 situations. Instead of being confined in a great measure to 

 reed beds, like the Eeed Warbler, it is capable of inhabiting 

 varied situations, such as are afforded in abundance by many 

 counties in England. No reason for its comparative scarcity 

 can therefore be assigned to any lack of power of adaptation. 



For reasons which I shall presently give, the actual 

 dimensions of the nest and the methods employed in securing 

 it to the supports require detailed description. The nest is 

 circular in shape, tapering downwards almost to a point. The 

 full diameter varies from 3" to 4J" in one case up to from 

 4" to 5" in another ; the interior diameter is less variable, 

 being approximately 2". The outside depth again varies con- 

 siderably, for whereas one example will measure 3}'! another 

 will be fully 4f". The same is true of the depth of the 

 interior, which varies from 1J" to 1J" in one case up to 2" or 

 21" in another. The walls of the nest may be from J" to 

 1" full in thickness. The nest is composed of dead grasses 

 of various thickness, and various descriptions, and there may 

 or may not be a lining of hair, fine roots, or even an admixture 

 of both. Unlike that of the Eeed Warbler, its appearance is 

 untidy, an untidiness due no doubt to the material used, for 

 the Eeed Warbler makes use of the seed heads of the common 

 reed, which cannot fail to give the nest a neater appearance. 

 In the case of both species the quality of the workmanship 

 is on the whole very similar, as is also the method adopted 



45 



