SEDGE WARBLER. 
117 
INSESSORES. 
REN TIROS TRES. 
SYLVIA DJE. 
SEDGE WARBLER. 
Salicaria phragmitis. 
PLATE XXXI. FIG. III. 
The nest of the Sedge Warbler, though it hears con¬ 
siderable resemblance to that of the following species, 
is evidently intended for a situation less under the in¬ 
fluence of every passing breeze; it is neither so deep 
—though much more so than the nests of most other 
birds,—nor yet so beautifully light. The nests of this 
species vary much in the neatness of their construction; 
some are compact and strong, and, like those of the 
genus Sylvia, formed of umbelliferous plants, with a 
few grasses, and a little moss ; others contain a much 
larger proportion of the softer materials, and are fragile, 
and easily fall to pieces. All that I have seen were 
lined with the fine tops of umbelliferous plants, and 
flowering grasses divested of their seed, with, at times, 
a small portion of wool, hair, or the soft downy sub¬ 
stance of thistles, and other plants. They may occa¬ 
sionally be found, like those of the reed-warbler, 
amongst reeds,—the Arundo phragmites,—from which 
the bird derives its name, hut in a less elevated posi¬ 
tion ; sometimes amongst rushes; and at other times 
in a low hush, or amongst the many kinds of tangled 
brushwood which constitute a hedge bottom. The eggs 
are four or five, and usually closely freckled all over, 
