2 GRASSHOPPER "WARBLER.
about daybreak singing on sonic high reed or branch of a tree. The topmost spray of a hush or tl
of a tall reed is their favourite perch throughout tho fen or broad-district. In the south I lia<
them on two or three occasions at an elevation of from twelve or fifteen up to even twenty feet in tb
of an oak. If undisturbed during line still weather, the monotonous note is frequently cuutiuuci
slight intermission for the first two or three hours after daybreak. Tho slightest sign of danger is
to cause them to drop like a stone into the thick cover, where they quietly remain creeping
a mouse till the place is again quiet.
SEDGE-WA RJJL ER.
SALICARIA PHRAGMITIS.
LIKE the rest of the family, this lively little Warbler is a migrant to tin- Hritisb Islands, arriving in April,
and taking its departure from our shores early in the autumn. During the journey towards its haunts,
and also on its return in the autumn, this species may frequently lie noticed in gardens and plantations,
also at times in considerable numbers in any standing crops in the fields that oiler a sullicienl amount of
cover. While resorling to shelter of this description, the birds will he seen silently threading their way through
the leaves or coarse grass, apparently desirous of escaping observation, their actions differing greatly from
the noisy and ostentatious manner in which they proclaim [heir presence when once their accustomed quarters
are reached.
Prom north to south the Scdite-Warbler may be found, if searched for, in almost every locality adapted to its
habits and requirements. I have repeatedly met with this species nesiiog in Sussex within a few miles of
the coast, and also round the edges of the rush-grown lochs in the north of Caithness. The bird seems
as clamorous ami as much at honm in the solitude that reigns supreme round the remotest Highland
lochs as when observed in close proximity to tho constant traffic of steamboats, wherries, and yachls on
the rivers and broads of Norfolk ami Suffolk.
The attractive cackling note of this species may he heard at almost all hours of the night. If silent
for a lime, should their haunts be invaded and the birds disturbed, they w ill at once commence " noising " •
on all sidi-s. Though the song of the Reed-Wren (.according to my own experience) is for the most part uttered
among the stems of the reeds, the Sedge bird occasionally deserts its usual quarters and may be noticed
assiduously pouring forth its cheerful tbuugh somewhat monotonous ditty while perched on the twigs of
a thick bush or even on the branches of an oak, an alder, or any greenwood free growing near the
water-side These birds not unfrequently rise from the cover of the reeds or sedge and, llyhig or rather
floating through the air, continue their song on wing. At times, while so engaged, they alight high in
the foliage of some dense tree, from which the descent is effected with the same curious Watering flight to
their accustomed lowly haunts. When viewed at a short distance, their downward course much resembles
the drop of the Titlark as, with quivering and expanded wings, it makes its way towards the ground.
The nest is generally placed at no great distance from water, either among the roots of the sedge on a
rough bank, or against the stump of a tree. The egg of S. phruijmilfii differs considerably from that of
8. slrepcru. To describe them briclly, it may be said that the eggs of this species are of a dull brownishyellow
tint, thickly speckled with a darker brown, and occasionally scrawled here and there with a few line
black lines, while those of the Reed-Warbler have a pale grecuish-hluc ground with dull grey and brown
blotches and spots. The juveniles of this species and also the liced-Warbler, while in their lirst feathers,