THE REED WARBLER. 
33 
it merely as a bird’s song in the abstract. He constructed a curious table of the 
comparative merit of our singing birds, making twenty the point of perfection, and 
assigning so many marks to each bird respectively for its mellowness of note, 
sprightly notes, plaintive notes, compass, and execution, in a manner worthy of our 
own age of examinations. Thus the nightingale is credited with a total of ninety 
marks, or ten less than perfection, the skylark with sixty-three, the robin (of whose 
song he had evidently a high idea) with fifty-eight. The Reed Warbler, however (or 
Reed Sparrow, as he terms it), only obtains eight in all ! Such an attempt to con¬ 
struct an exact estimate of birds’ songs is its own refutation. The writer is swayed 
by his own predilections, and cannot possibly do justice to all the songsters. 
Of course the best mode of hearing and observing the Reed Warbler is by boat, 
save in exceptional localities. Its slender bill, compact form, and sharp claws are 
admirably adapted for the reed-beds which it loves. Few writers have better 
described the habits of this bird and its nice adaptation to the reeds and the con¬ 
ditions of its life than Mudie, with whose remarks the history of the Reed Warbler 
may fitly conclude :— 
“That this bird is not adapted for so many situations as the Sedge Bird” (he 
means the Sedge Warbler) “ might be inferred from the different form of the tail, 
which is more produced and not wedge-shaped, so that while it answers better as a 
balance on the bending reeds or other flexible aquatic plants, it would not be so 
convenient among the unyielding sprays of a hedge or brake. The bird rarely, if 
ever, perches upon the tops of reeds, even on its first arrival, and when the song of 
invitation to a mate is given, its place is on a leaf or a leaning stem, though upon 
an emergency it can cling to an upright one, the stiff feathers of the tail acting as a 
sort of prop. It is not easily raised, and remains but a very short time upon the 
wing; but it is by no means timid on its perch, upon which, if it be very flexible, 
it sits with its wings not quite closed, but recovered, so as to have a little hold on 
the air, and thereby either prevent its fall or be ready when a gust comes to bear it 
to a more secure footing. Its food is found wholly over the stagnant waters. The 
Reed Warbler does not come until the reeds are considerably advanced, and it 
departs before they are cut, so that it dwells in peace; and, especially in the 
mornings about the end of May or beginning of June, it may be observed with the 
greatest ease.” 
