32 
PICTURES OF BIRD LIFE. 
at once cause him to resume his varied chirping. His nest is probably close at 
hand, about a foot from the ground, at no great distance from the water, composed 
of dead grass, moss, and fine roots, and lined with hair, wool, and feathers. The 
five or six eggs within are of a dull brown or dirty white hue. Like the Reed 
Warbler, it comes in April and leaves again in September. To Pennant and White 
of Selborne belongs the credit of having discovered this species in England. 
Yet another of the family, the Grasshopper Warbler (S. locustella), may be 
expected in precisely the same situations as these two birds. It, too, is an 
immigrant of April, retiring in September. It is more shy than the others, secreting 
itself in the thickest coverts of its fastnesses and creeping about among the stems of 
the herbage and reeds, “more like a mouse than a bird,” says Professor Newton. Its 
chirping monotonous sounds are very characteristic when once recognised, and 
resemble nothing so much as the constant “click, click” of a fisherman’s reel; hence 
the bird is sometimes known provincially as the “reeler.” This chatter is very 
common in the evening, and has been called “ ventriloquistic,” as it seems to proceed 
from all parts of the thicket where the bird is concealed. It is a small greenish- 
brown, dusky creature, with a long tail, and its enrolment amongst British birds is 
again due to the patient observations of White. The nest is as difficult to discover 
as the bird, and very few ornithologists have ever succeeded in finding one. It is 
said to be cup-shaped, about four inches across over the top, formed externally of 
coarse grass and sedges mixed with moss, and lined within with fine bents. It lays 
from five to seven eggs, of a reddish-white, closely spotted with a darker red. The 
Grasshopper Warbler is not uncommon in every county of England, and reaches far 
up into the west coast of Scotland. It does not cross the Baltic, but is found 
frequently in Germany. Any one with the least pretension to ornithology should be 
able to distinguish these three birds of the marshes by their song alone—the Reed 
Warbler, the Sedge Warbler, and the Grasshopper Warbler. 
Broderip rightly applies the epithet “merry” to the song of the Reed Warbler, 
“ for merry he is, notwithstanding his pale brown Quakerly suit.” His description 
of its song agrees with that of most ornithologists. “ The song is varied and 
pleasing, though hurried, like that of the Sedge Warbler, and is of better quality. 
Frequently have we heard it when plying the rod on the banks of the Colne. It 
sings by night as well as by day continually, and its loud music, often heard clearest 
in the evening twilight or grey dawn, resembles the notes and voices of several 
different birds.” Barrington, however, did not highly regard its song, perhaps owing 
to his dissociating it from the watery localities which the bird loves, and viewing 
