80 REED WARBLER. 
the structure. It is formed of dried grass, long stalks, dry 
leaves, lichens, and wool, as also at times some moss, and is 
lined with the blossom of the reed. It generally consists of 
two parts, a loose foundation of the first-named materials, 
and the actual nest, which is composed almost exclusively of 
the last-named. This upper part can sometimes be detached 
from the lower, as if from a socket, the whole being narrow 
and deep to secure the eggs when the reeds are swayed down, 
so that the frail fabric, the bird all the while sitting in it, 
is often brought close to the very water’s edge. The depth 
outside is from about three to five inches, and the inside about 
three, by about three in width at the top and two at the 
bottom. ‘The nest, however, is not invariably placed among 
reeds; it is at times found in a blackthorn, whitethorn, 
willow, or among the clustering branches of an osier bed. 
Mr. Sweet met with one in the low part of a poplar tree, 
and Mr. Bolton another in a hazel bush. It is said that 
the nests of birds of the first and second years’ age are not 
so neatly finished as those whose builders have had more 
experience. When destroyed sometimes by floods, even two 
or three times, these birds have been known by Mr. Briggs 
to build a fourth. James Dalton, Esq., of Worcester College, 
Oxford, has taken one suspended in a box tree, near the 
piece of water which is there so great an ornament. N. 
Rowe Esq., of the same College, has found it in a lilac tree. 
G. B. Clarke, Esq., of Woburn, has also forwarded to me 
specimens of the nest and eggs of the present species, as 
have likewise J. G. Bonney, Esq., and Mr. Dalton. 
The eggs, usually four, or sometimes five or six in number, 
are of a dull greenish white colour, spotted and freckled 
with darker greyish green and light brown. In some in- 
stances the spots are almost black, in others inclining to a 
brownish green; occasionally the egg 1s marked with one or 
two little black lines at the broad end. The arrangement 
of the spots is endless—some varieties are equally marked 
all over; in some the spots are in a ring round the broad 
end; in others the base is covered; some are but. slightly 
marked; others are completely covered over; one rare variety 
has been seen almost white, faintly mottled with pale grey 
blots; some quite white have been known. They are frequently 
not laid until after the beginning of June. 
The young are hatched in July, and are said to quit the 
nest soon, being abie, before acquiring the art of flying, to 
