reed or other tall aquatic plant, where it will continue for 
hours together, uttering its discordant note ; in some places 
it is migratory, but with us continues the whole year ; its 
food is seeds^ grain, and insects ; it is rarely to be met with 
but in marshy spots. 
The nest of this bird is a master-piece of ingenuity ; it is 
composed of dry grass and fibres, which are carefully wound 
round three or four stems of tall living plants, mostly reeds, 
two or three feet above the water; the nest is lined with 
the down from reeds and other vegetables ; in this, situation 
we have seert the female sitting on her eggs, and keep pos- 
session of her nest, though the plants, to which it was 
affixed, were laid almost level with the water ; in fact, the 
rocking of the nest by the wind seems to occasion no kind 
of anxiety, and the male bird often perches on a reed close 
by the nest, and will keep its situation during very severe 
gusts of wind. In the winter they affect the same places, 
but generally keep at the bottom of the reeds on the margin 
of rivulets or ponds. Some authors describe the note of 
this species as a soft melodious song ; we have no doubt but 
this error has been occasioned by the Reed Bunting being 
seen as before described, perched on the top of some tall 
reed, whilst at the root of the same plant some species of 
warbler had built its nest. 
Mr. Montagu says, there cannot be a doubt but that the 
nest of the Sedge Warbler has been mistaken, as well as 
its note, as belonging to this bird : he further says, the 
nest of this bird is commonly placed on the ground. Having 
frequently taken the female on the nest, as above described, 
we can only presume this bird does not always pursue the 
same plan in constructing its nest ; so accurate an observer 
as Mr. Montagu, was scarcely liable to be deceived, yet 
deviations of this kind are exceedingly uncommon. The eggs 
are of a pale dusky brown, with deep purpleish brown lines 
and spots ; the shells do not appear to change colour when 
blown. 
