The neft is compofed externally ofdry ftalks o f grafs, lined for Place andMah-
the moil part with the flowery tufts of the common reed ; but
fometimes with fmall dead graffes, and a few' black horfe-hairs to
cover them. The neft is ufually fufpended, or fattened on, like a
hammock, between three or four ftalks of reeds, by means of dead
grafs, &c. s but the bird does not always confine herfelf to the
reeds, as inftances are feen of the neft being made on the branches
o f a water-dock j or, as was the cafe in that from which the drawing
was taken, in a trifurcated branch o f a lhrub near the water.
The eggs are commonly four, of a dirty white, ftained’- all over
with dull olive fpots,, chiefly at the largeft end, where are generally
feen two or three fmall irregular black fcratches. ,
The above bird frequents the river Coin, in Buckinghamjhire, P l a c e .
and no doubt other rivers and watery places where reeds grow. It
is a pretty fhy bird, and not often taken, though the neft is frequently
met with. It may eafily be miftaken for the Sedge Bird,
but is certainly a different fpecies j the circumftance of its having
the bafe of the bill much broader than in the Sedge Bird, were
there no other charafteriftic, muft alone determine the difference
between them.
Motacilla fylvia, Lin. Syjl. i. p. 230. N° 9 ?— Faun. Suec. N° 250 ? L E S S E R WHITE
O I Z E pf the Yellow Wren, and of the fame flender Ihape:
length fcarcely five inches. Bill half an inch long, flender, DESCIUt,TI0K,
and dufky 5 bafe of the under mandible pale yellbw : irides dark:
the upper parts of the plumage in general pale cinereous brown,
fomewhat darker on the crown; the under parts, from the chin
to the vent, dufky white : the tail two inches in length, o f the
S uppl. B b fame