CALAMODYTA PHRAGMITIS.
Sedge Warbler or Chat.

Sylvia salicaria, Penn. Brit. Zool., vol. i. Demo te

Motacilla salicaria, Mont. Orn. Dict.

Curruca salicaria, Flem. Brit. Anim., p. 69.

Salcaria phragmitis, Selby, Il. Orn., vol. i. p. 201.

Sylvia phragmitis, Temm. Man. d’Orn., vol. i. p. 189.

Calamodus phragmitis, Gray, List of Gen. and Subgen. of Birds in Brit. Mus., p. 33.

ee

Tue Brown Owl hoots, ‘lus Barn Owl screeches, and the Nightingale pours forth its melodious song. But
these are not the only birds that break the stillness of the night: the constantly babbling
S ) C 5

frequently heard than either of them; from sundown to sunrise, from morn till dewy eve,

Chat is more
er its garrulous
strain 1s poured forth so continuously that one is induced to ask, does the bird ever sleep? does it ever
feed? Let me qualify this remark, however, by saying, that only at certain seasons—the love-season of
birds—is this babbler so loquacious ; when the pairing-time is over, it sings less frequently, and its natural
notes change to a chiding or scolding tone whenever the immediate precincts of its nest are intruded
upon. Not only does the Chat sing when shrouded by the thick covert, but it frequently perches on some
exposed twig, and there, with swollen throat and drooping tail, pours out its melody, then suddenly starts off,
and, with rounded, tremulous wing, flies to some neighbouring shrub, singing all the while with an exuberance
which must be heard to be appreciated. As soon as the young are hatched, this mirthful, babbling song is
discontinued, and both male and female become most assiduous jn providing insect-food for their brood, and
they pass to and fro many hundred times a day until the young are able to assist themselves. I believe that
two broods are frequently, if not generally, reared in each year; for in the beginning of July the male may
be heard singing as lustily as in the spring, and the female is doubtless sitting on a second series of eggs.
This bird must be familiar to every one who resides in the country; for there is scarcely a garden or
hedge-row, coppice, marsh, or river-side, that is not tenanted by a pair of Sedge Warblers. As certain as
the seasons return, does this bird resort to its accustomed haunts, and form one of the numerous species
which visit us in the spring, cheering us with their presence, and benefiting us by the great amount of good
they effect in keeping insect-life within its proper bounds. That the Sedge Warbler winters in Africa there
can be no doubt: the probability is, that when it leaves us in autumn, it first touches at the nearest headland
in Spain, and gradually passing south, crosses the Mediterranean at its narrowest part; the return-movement,
which takes place in April, being performed in a similar manner. Its arrival in England is somewhat
dependent upon the kind of season and the advance of vegetation. It is by no means an aaa oul between
the middle and the latter end of April, when the willow is in leaf, and the sedge has risen far above the
water, is the period when it makes its appearance. When once arrived, we ae Hmamnec heey apprised of Te
fact by the peculiar song of the male, who at once takes up his former position ane awaits the oe of
I The task of nest-making commences, and in the early part of June

the females about the beginning of May.
The nest, which is round, deep, cup-shaped, neat,

nests may be found with their full complement of eggs. |
and well made, but not so massive as that of the Reed Wren, is placed in any overhanging shrub in the garden,
yy 7 a .
1 ; illow projecting over the water. The eges are five or six in
in the quickset-hedge, or on the branch of a willow projecting over the water eos a i
number, eight lines long by six lines in breadth; of a pale-yellowish brown, very finely mottled and streakec
fo) s d

with darker brown.
F C , 59. w: laced
; 5 c é ‘or 5 ear Maidenbes u the 9th of June, 1859, was placec
A nest of the Sedge Warbler taken at Formosa, neat Maidenhead, o e : ; I

f
f

among nettles and other rank herbage near the river-side, within two feet a the ou and ve be
neat and well built. It was of a deep cup-shaped form; the outer portion was constr a 2 a i. f
erasses and the flower-stalks of various plants, mingled with green moss ; witliniy as a a ee ae
Acorns roots, fine hairs, and three or four feathers, all firmly matted together. ‘The four freshly laid eggs

. ae “ea Very surled, hair-like streak
were of an exceedingly dark-olivaceous stone-colour, with here and there a very fine, curled, he é
an exceedingty

of black.
Another nest, taken at the same place in June ee
: softer feathers
of interwoven moss and dried grass, warmly lined mae ge le

1860, contained five eggs, and was externally composed
of the Swan and a little fine

nove he distribution of the Sedge Warbler over the British Islands, I believe it is universally
With regard to the distribution o » Seag ae s thellousandanncremerion
a : ; its life, such as the low and moist siaes

Sane 5 d mode of life,
. na ‘ suited to its habits an BAG .
dispersed wherever there are situations s “on the cuInmit ofSnondonmomr nit

of rivers, gardens, &c. No ornithologist would think of looking for

oY i a I