RIVER WARBLER. 90 



from observation. Tlie inside of the nest is cup-sliapecl, 

 and neatly and solidly lined witli small soft grass stems, 

 without any mixture of other materials. The four eggs 

 which Heckel found in one such nest, (Naumannia, p- 

 17, 1853,) have a conspicuous greyish white ground, 

 with reddish brown spots, some light, others dark, and 

 slight stains scattered over." 



Brehm, in Badeker's work upon European eggs, 

 gives a still later account of its nidification, which I 

 will quote entire, as everything about this bird is in- 

 teresting to the naturalist: — 



*'It dwells, but not numerously, in the high-lying 

 meadows of the Elbe, by Magdebourg and Breslau, 

 and it is plentiful on the shores of the Don, the Bug, 

 and many rivers in Gallicia. It lives in the Avoods and 

 thick bushes on the banks of the rivers. It breeds, ac- 

 cording to Count Wodyecki, in Gallicia, and to others 

 in Moldavia, not far from Prague, and on the Elbe, 

 Herr Zelcbor shot a female with an egg just ready to 

 lay. May 22nd., 1852, and found the nest on the Don 

 not. far from Vienna. It builds in bushes which are 

 thickly grown through with reed-grass and Parietaria 

 officinalis. The nest is formed of dry reeds and grass 

 leaves, tender twigs, strong grass stems, strips of reed, 

 etc., interwoven with dry meadow grass. It is lined 

 with soft grass. The eggs are four or five, which are 

 greyish, inclining to reddish ground-colour, upon which 

 are indistinct pale violet-grey and darker or lighter spots 

 and streaks of reddish brown, thicker at the base. They 

 are unequally shaped, gently declining from the base to 

 the top." 



The River Warbler feeds on insects and flies. 



The male in breeding plumage has all the upper parts 

 of the body olive green, shaded with brown; the throat « 



