SEDGE BIRD. 



(observes Montagu) in a tuft of rushes on the ground, 

 or very near it, fastened round the bottom of them ; 

 at other times, in a low bush, or on the stump of 

 a willow. The eggs are five or six in number, of 

 a light brown colour, mottled with darker shades 

 of the same. The nests of the Sedge and Reed 

 Warblers (observes the author of the British Natu- 

 ralist) are constructed in those plants from which 

 they take their names, or in other aquatic plants ; 

 and the construction shows a great deal of ingenu- 

 ity. They are firmly attached to a sufficient num- 

 ber of stalks for preventing any accident. The mass 

 of dry materials is so great, that it would not only 

 float if detached, but float so far out of the water, 

 as that the eggs would not come in contact with 

 that fluid. They are also made so deep, that 

 any agitation to which the strongest wind could 

 subject the plants to which they are attached, 

 would be unable to shake the bird or the eggs 

 out of the nest. 



