BRITISH WARBLERS 



countries alluded to may be said to occur approximately within 

 a period of three weeks — a striking difference when compared 

 with the corresponding period of two months during which 

 the Marsh Warbler is arriving. 



The localities frequented by the Marsh Warbler are 

 different from those in which we are accustomed to find the 

 Eeed Warbler. The latter bird inhabits the dense masses of 

 Arundo phragmites, and sometimes, it is true, when such 

 conditions are not available, the withy beds that are found 

 along the banks of our larger rivers ; but for the Marsh 

 Warbler the dense reed beds never seem to possess a similar 

 attraction. There are records of the nest having been found 

 amongst reeds — to the authenticity of which, however, some 

 doubt is attached — and in Texel I was taken amongst the 

 reeds in order to hear the males singing, but no trace of them 

 was to be found ; and it is doubtful whether my friends were 

 really acquainted with the species. In the choice of a 

 situation for breeding purposes a close proximity to water 

 is by no means a necessity, for sometimes they inhabit 

 steep banks, where a year or so previously the trees 

 have been felled and the ground has become thickly over- 

 grown with such bushes as hazel, elder, and ash, and car- 

 peted with a luxuriant undergrowth, or even thick hedgerows 

 surrounding orchards. On the other hand, they may be 

 found along the very banks of a river, providing that the 

 vegetation and bushes are sufficiently dense to afford pro- 

 tection. However, the osier bed seems to be preferred to any 

 other situation, and by this term I mean small plantations of 

 various descriptions, usually damp, sometimes surrounded by 

 or even partially filled with water, but always having a 

 relatively drier portion which can be resorted to by the birds 

 for the purpose of reproduction. In Texel there are many of 

 these small plantations in which the willows and other trees 

 have been allowed to grow to a considerable size, but they 

 are resorted to nevertheless so long as the undergrowth is 

 sufficiently dense. I recollect two males inhabiting one such 



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