346 
STRANGE DWELLINGS . 
about the end of May and the beginning of June it may be 
observed with the greatest ease.’ 
Still, although the bird be common, and although it is bold 
enough to admit of approach, it is not generally familiar, simply 
because none but professed naturalists are likely to look for it 
in the spots which it frequents. The Reed Warbler loves a large 
patch of marshy land almost wholly covered with stagnant 
water, and full of the reeds among which its home is made. 
Such a place is not agreeable to the pedestrian, for although an 
hour spent in wading through water knee-deep is no difficult or 
even unpleasant task, yet no one likes to meet also with mud of 
various and unknown depths, as is the case in the great reed 
swamps where the birds most love to build. Even the song of 
the Reed Warbler does not attract attention. Though musical 
in tone, it is very feeble in power and monotonous in character, 
consisting of several hurried notes in a low warble, which can 
only be heard at a little distance. 
The nest of this bird is supported between three or four 
reeds, and is remarkably deep in proportion to its width. The 
object of this depth is evident. To bend as a reed before the 
wind is a proverbial saying, and any one who has seen a large 
mass of reeds on a stormy day must have been impressed with 
their graceful curves. As the blasts of the wind pass over 
them, they bend in successive waves like the billows of the sea, 
and are sometimes bowed so low that their tips nearly reach 
the water. 
A nest, therefore,, which rests on such pliant supports must 
be thrown out of its perpendicular by every breath of wind, 
and unless it were very deep the eggs would be flung out. The 
great depth, however, of the nest counteracts the deflection of 
the reeds > and, however fiercely the storm may rage, the Reed 
Warbler sits securely in her nest, even chough it be sometimes 
nearly bowed to the surface of the water. The materials of the 
nest are generally taken from the immediate neighbourhood, the 
body of the nest being composed of broken rushes and moss 
bound together with reed leaves, and the lining made almost 
wholly of cows’ hair. 
