The Marsh Warblers inhabit all parts of our globe, but are particularly numerous in the Eastern Hemisphere. As their name indicates, they principally frequent marshy districts overgrown with reeds, rushes, or long grass, and only occasionally seek their food upon bushes; they entirely avoid mountain ranges, as the water that flows in the vicinity of the latter is too frequently agitated to suit their requirements. All lead a somewhat retired life within the limits of their favourite haunts, but are readily discovered by their very peculiar yet by no means unpleasing song, which is to be heard almost throughout the entire day. They fly but little, and with an unsteady fluttering movement, keeping the tail outspread, and always appear very unwilling to mount into the air. They hurry over the ground with wonderful rapidity, and slip in and out of tiny crevices with a celerity that fully equals that of a mouse. They also hop nimbly from point to point, and climb the perpendicular stems of reeds or long grass with the utmost facility. Insects of all kinds afford them their principal means of subsistence, and they also occasionally eat berries; worms they utterly reject. Such as inhabit northern climates migrate at the approach of winter. The purse-like nest built by these birds is hung from a reed or twig close to the water's edge, and most artistically constructed; its bottom being heavy, the sides long, and the top turned inwards, so as to prevent the young from falling out, should the unsteady little structure be exposed to a violent wind. It is a remarkable fact that the Marsh Warblers appear to be fully aware that they may occasionally expect an unusual rise of water in the lake or stream near which they live, and always anticipate the danger that from this cause might accrue to the little family, by suspending the nest at a proportionate height from the ground. The eggs are hatched by both parents, and the young tended and fed long after they are fully fledged.
The REED WARBLERS (Acrocephalus) constitute a group possessing most of the characteristics that distinguish this family. In these birds the beak is almost straight, or very slightly curved at its extremity; the wings are of moderate size, the third and fourth quills exceeding the rest in length; the exterior tail-feathers are somewhat shortened, and the foot unusually powerful. The compact and unspotted plumage is usually olive green on the upper portion of the body, and reddish or yellowish white beneath.
THE TRUE REED WARBLER.
The TRUE REED WARBLER (Acrocephalus turdoides) is about eight inches long and eleven broad; the wing measures three inches and a half, and the tail four inches and a quarter. This species is yellowish grey on the mantle, and reddish white on the under side, shaded with grey upon the throat. The female is somewhat smaller and paler than her mate. The Reed Warblers inhabit Europe, from South Scandinavia to Greece and Spain; in the extreme south and in Northern Africa they are replaced by nearly allied species. Everywhere they frequent such marshy localities as are overgrown with reeds, and are never seen in mountainous regions or woodland districts, or even upon the trees that grow near their favourite haunts. The migratory season commences in September; but during their wanderings, which often extend as far as Central Africa, they pass direct from one piece of water to another, and never turn aside in their course to linger in any but marshy or well-watered places. Shortly after the return of these birds, at the end of April or beginning of May, their loud resonant voices are to be heard not only from sunrise to sunset, but frequently throughout the night. The song is a strange combination of a great variety of harsh quavering notes, more nearly resembling the croaking of the frogs whose domain they share than the notes of any of the feathered creation. While singing the males usually perch upon a reed or twig, with drooping wing, outspread tail, inflated throat, and open beak, and go through their noisy performance with an energetic desire to rival every bird around them; such is the evident satisfaction they exhibit at the result of their efforts, as to make the listener overlook the want of vocal talent, in his amusement at the conceit of the self-complacent songsters. The nests are commenced about June, and are built near together, suspended firmly from the reeds that overhang the surface of the pond or stream, some four or five being drawn firmly together to make a safe support.
Like other Marsh Warblers, they display wonderful instinct in the situation they select, and invariably build at such a height as is secure from any unusual rising of the water; indeed, it has been repeatedly observed that in certain years the nests of the Reed Warblers were constructed at an unusual distance from the ground, and this precaution has always been explained later in the season by the fall of extraordinary heavy rain, that would inevitably have swept away the little structures had they been placed in the situation ordinarily selected. The nest itself is very long in shape, with the top turned inwards, to render the nestlings secure in a high wind. The walls are thick, formed of grass, stalks, fibres, and wool, lined with cobwebs, horsehair, and similar materials. The eggs, four or five in number, are of a bluish or greenish-white tint, spotted and veined with dark brown and grey; the young are hatched in about a fortnight, should the parent be undisturbed, and are tended with great affection, even long after they are fully fledged. The Reed Warblers, as we learn from Dr. Bennett, are commonly met with in Australia. "One species" (Acrocephalus Australis), he tells us, "is very numerous about the sedgy localities of the Nepean river; and although it has been denied that any of the Australian birds are endowed with a musical voice, this bird has a very loud, pleasing song, enlivening the places it frequents. It is a migratory species, arriving in the spring season—i.e., about September—and taking its departure as winter commences. It builds its nest, suspended among the reeds, in a similar manner to its congeners in Europe; it is composed of the thin epidermis of reeds interwoven with dried rushes. The sexes are alike. I did not see the eggs in the nests, but they are stated to be four in number, of a greyish-white colour, thickly marked all over with irregular blotches and markings of yellowish brown, umber brown, and bluish grey."
The large Reed Warbler of India (Acrocephalus brunnescens) is, according to Jerdon, very similar to the European species, but differs in being something smaller in the relative size of the primaries, the greater length of the wing, and the greater intensity of its colour.
The larger Reed Warbler is found in most parts of India in the cold weather, for it is only a winter visitant. It extends into Assam, Aracan, and China, in some parts of which latter country it probably breeds. It frequents high reeds and grasses, high grain fields and gardens, where it hunts among the rows of peas, beans, and other vegetables. It clings strongly to the stalks of grain, and makes its way adroitly through thick grass or bushes, concealing itself when observed, and being with difficulty driven out. It feeds on small grasshoppers, ants, and other insects. "I have," continues our author, "heard it occasionally utter a harsh, clucking kind of note."
The SEDGE WARBLERS (Calamodus) are distinguished from the birds above described by their inferior size, and by the comparative shortness of their wings, in which the third quill is the longest; the tail, moreover, is very decidedly rounded, and their plumage spotted.