Reed warbler

“ I did not find the Great Reed Warbler in any other locality in the Dinant district, but met with it near Mechelen.
A. phragmitis.—Pretty common along the Meuse, especially above Hastière. Often to be seen singing on the wing, flying up high into the air also and then descending singing into a low tree or bush. I could not detect the Aquatic Warbler.
Accentor modularis.—I only saw two; one near the railway at Agimont, the other singing from the top of a roadside spruce in the Forest of Ardenne. Here, as in Switzerland, it does not seem to be the familiar garden bird it is with us. ”

“ Remarks.—From the observations of Kittlitz, Kubary, Coultas, McElroy, and others, it is apparent that the Nightingale Reed-warbler in the Caroline Islands is restricted to the lower elevations of the islands. Whereas the reed-warbler at Guam seems closely associated with cane swamps and adjacent vegetation, the bird in the Carolines may range more extensively into brush lands, forest margin [Pg 256] and grass lands. Coultas (field notes) notes that the reed-warbler at Ponapé is a "common bird of the small bush and grasslands. One is attracted by its warbler-like song. ”

“ I generally shoot a few young one during the month of August, high tides driving them from the Rands to the fen ditches.
Reed Warbler.—The Reed Warbler is nothing near so numerous in the district as of yore. When a youngster, I was fond of trailing through the tall reeds to search for Reed Warbler's nests, and had little difficulty in finding half a score. Now it would take a lot of searching to find that quantity of nests, and judging from the few birds one sees, this species has decreased very much during the past ten years. ”

“ In them generally it builds one of the most beautiful of nests, made of the seed-branches of the reed and long grass, wound horizontally round and round so as to include in its substance the living stems of three or four reeds, between which it is suspended at a convenient height above the water, and the structure is so deep that the eggs do not roll out when its props are shaken by the wind. Of very similar habits is the reed-thrush or great reed-warbler, A. arundinaceus, a loud-voiced species, abundant on the Continent but very rarely straying to England. ”

“ I was quite certain in my own mind that there were no reed-warblers either, but I felt it would be impertinent for a layman like myself to argue with Brown.
"There!" he exclaimed, darting to the open window. "Can't you hear it?"
I listened. "Oh, that," I said; "that's——"
"The mating song of the male reed-warbler," interrupted Brown ecstatically. "Now, whatever happens, don't let them be disturbed. Don't even try to find the nest, or you may alarm them. Leave it all to me. I shan't have a free morning till Saturday, but there's no hurry. ”

“ Next to moorhens, the most constant companion of the visitor to the sedgy margins of a pond or osier-bed is the reed-warbler. To many eyes the reed-and the sedge-warblers look alike, and to most ears their songs sound alike. Nor in their comings and goings and general behaviour is there much to distinguish them as they creep about in their shady coverts{212}
THE REED MUSICIANS or momentarily flit across some narrow space, or with a flight like a flying-fish’s in the water, suddenly appear on the surface of the reeds, skim their level tops, and as suddenly drop down out of sight again. ”

“ They differ, too, from other warblers in their habit of singing at night. There are eight species which have all more or less a claim to be included in the British list, although three only can be regarded as regular summer migrants. These three are the Sedge Warbler (S. phragmitis) , the Reed Warbler (S. strepera) , and the Grasshopper Warbler (S. locustella) . The others are Savi’s Warbler (S. luscinoides) , the Aquatic Warbler (S. aquatica) , the Marsh Warbler (S. palustris) , the Great Reed Warbler (S. arundinacea) , and the Rufous Warbler (S. galactoides) . ”

“ These same species which we so seldom see are swarming in the flat lands of Holland, close by us, and why should they not come over to the island which birds seem to love so dearly?
But there is no doubt that birds have ways, and reasons for them, which man is very unlikely ever to be able to understand. Why, as Mr. Harting asks, [17] should the Reed-warbler be so much less “generally distributed” than the Sedge-warbler? That it is so, we can show well enough even from Oxford alone. ”

“ This handsome Warbler is plain gray above and yellow below, with a black stripe down the sides of the neck and across the breast in a broken band. They frequent swamps or open woods with a heavy growth of underbrush, where
they build their nests on or very close to the ground. I have always found them in Massachusetts nesting about the roots of laurels, the nests being made of strips of bark, leaves and grass; in June or the latter part of May they lay from three to five white eggs, specked and wreathed with reddish brown and neutral tints ”

“ Song.—Loud and similar to that of the Indigo Bunting, but shorter.
Nest.—Usually high up in pines and often concealed in tufts of moss; made of fine twigs and strips of bark, held together with cobwebs and Spanish moss; eggs greenish white, spotted with various shades of brown.
Range.—Southeastern U. S., breeding north to Virginia; winters in the West Indies. 663a. Sycamore Warbler (albilora) is like the Yellow-throated, but is white before the eye; found in the Mississippi Valley north to Illinois and Iowa; winters in Mexico. ”

“ They are very silent, uttering now and then a ‘cheep,’ and always busy searching among the leaves and cones for insects. Among some fifty collected in the first week in August, 1896, there were only two or three adults. The young males have the most coloring, but they in no way approach adult plumage. These great flights of the hermit warbler are intermingled with other species, Hammond flycatcher, Calaveras and lutescent warblers, Cassin vireo, and sometimes Louisiana tanagers and red-brested nuthatches. ”

“ I don't believe there is anybody living who could name at sight every one of the seventy warblers that visit the United States. Some are very gaily coloured and exquisitely marked, as birds coming to us from the tropics have a right to be. Some are quietly clad; some, like the redstart, are dressed quite differently from their mates and young; others, like the yellow warbler, are so nearly alike that you could see no difference between the male and female from the distance of a few feet. ”

“ The female is merely more dull in coloration than the male, and the young even duller. The hybrids between this and the golden-winged warbler are more puzzling, but in a general way they can be recognized; a nearly typical blue-winged warbler with a black throat is probably a Lawrence’s warbler; and a golden-winged warbler without a black throat or cheek and with a variable amount of white and yellow on the under parts and in the wing-bars, is probably a Brewster’s warbler. But there is an immense amount of individual variation between the two species, due to frequent crossing. ”

“ Range.—Eastern N. A., breeding from Connecticut (sparingly) and Michigan north to Labrador and Hudson Bay; winters in Central America. 654a. Cairns Warbler (cairnsi) is said to be darker on the back; found in the southern Alleghanies. ”

“ They are small, very active, but feeble songsters, and, to be seen, must be sought for. In passing through the woods, most persons have a vague consciousness of slight chirping, semi-musical sounds in the trees overhead. In most cases these sounds proceed from the warblers. Throughout the Middle and Eastern States, half a dozen species or so may be found in almost every locality, as the redstart, the Maryland yellow-throat, the yellow warbler (not the common goldfinch, with black cap, and black wings and tail) , the hooded warbler, the black and white creeping warbler ”

“ The migrating Nashville warblers, in my experience, prefer the outskirts of the larger woods, but may be found anywhere in the smaller woods, preferring the middle branches, rarely ascending to the tree-tops, not seldom gleaning near the ground in the underbrush, or even among the leaves on the ground. They are by no means confined to the woods, but glean as boldly and sing as cheerfully among the fruit and shade trees in town, but they are more numerous in the woods.
The song has been compared to that of the chestnut-sided warbler and the chipping sparrow combined. ”

“ On the 3d and 4th, extraordinary rushes of summer immigrants occurred at the Eddystone and Nash stations (and at Helwick on the 4th) , when Wheatears, Whitethroats, Sedge Warblers, Willow Wrens, Wood Warblers, Blackcaps, Reed Warblers, Redstarts, Pied Flycatchers, and Swallows were killed—some in considerable numbers—at the lanterns. On the 16th and 18th, in varying weather, there were arrivals of summer and transient birds at the S.W. stations. Conditions afterwards were most unsettled until the 24th, the weather being wretchedly cold and rough. ”

“ The young continue with the female for some time after they are really capable of taking care of themselves, though the male does not often accompany them. He still sings, but the song is poor; his outbursts of excitement are less frequent and less intense. Excitement amongst individuals of other species will attract him, and he will frequently be an interested spectator if a Garden- Warbler, disturbed while feeding its young, commences to croak. Sometimes he pursues one of another species, such as a Chiff-chaff, Nightingale, or Hedge-Sparrow, and either plays or fights with him. ”

“ A complete postnuptial molt in July and August produces the fully adult plumage. In fresh fall plumage the head is browner than in spring, the back is grayer, the crown patch is more veiled with gray tips, and the breast is tinged with brownish. The females are paler than the males, with less chestnut in the crown. Adults probably have a partial prenuptial molt similar to that of young birds.
Food.—Very little has been published on the food of the Nashville warbler. Knight (1908) says that “the food of the adults consists of beetles, larvae of various insects and the eggs of various insects. ”

“ Like most of the same sex of other Warblers, the female of this species is very shy, and seldom noticed except when an intruder disturbs the nest or when feeding the young after leaving it, but the male Golden-cheeked Warbler is by no means a shy bird. He keeps continually flying from tree to tree in search of insects, and on fine days uttering his song at short intervals from early dawn until after sundown, and before nest building begins shows little alarm upon being approached. ”

“ One male darts off after another one, pursuing him with very rapid flight into some thick bush; here he chases him up and down and along the branches with tail outspread and wings extended and slowly flapping, his behaviour being exactly similar to that during courtship, occasionally making use of a very curious note, much like the scolding of the Garden Warbler (Sylvia hortensis) when its nest is approached ”

“ The males sing persistently and energetically from the time that they arrive on their territories, hoping to attract their mates, but they are not always successful, especially in regions where the species is rare or not very common, and their nest-building brings no occupant. Edward von S. Dingle writes to me that, at Summerton, S. C., a male prothonotary warbler built a nest in a low stub, but no female was ever seen. He sang frequently and remained in the vicinity for several weeks. ”

“ The actual pitch is exceedingly variable in individuals and varies from A′′′ to D′′′′′. Songs vary considerably in loudness, many of them becoming suddenly louder toward the end.
“The species sings throughout migration, and on the breeding grounds till late July. At that season I have seen males still singing while feeding young just out of the nest.”
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Enemies.—Dr. Friedmann (1929) writes; “This bird is practically free from that greatest enemy of most of the warblers, the Cowbird. Occasionally, however, parasitic eggs are found in the dainty pensile nests of the Parula Warbler. ”

“ About this time both young and old often join the small flocks of Tits and different species of Warblers, which, roaming from field to field, travel thus in search of food—a merry party. The young have ample scope here for their playfulness, chasing whatever species happens to be nearest to them, whether Tit or Warbler. The adults are still the same restless, independent individuals, not so much following the flock, but rather taking a line of their own whenever an occasion arises. ”

“ Robie W. Tufts tells me that he has seen the male at the nest; he saw a male come to a partly finished nest sit in it for over a minute as though testing the workmanship and sing twice while sitting there. The male is always very attentive during nest-building, following his mate back and forth on her trips for material and keeping close to her most of the time. His interest in the nest is so keen that it would be strange if he did not sometimes help.
The eastern yellow warbler builds a neat, strong nest, the materials being firmly and smoothly interwoven and the lining compactly felted. ”

“ The adult winter plumage “differs chiefly from first winter dress in possessing a larger, more distinct crown patch,” in the male, and more or less of it in the female. “The color below is uniform and paler.”
Food.—Nothing seems to be known about the summer food of the orange-crowned warbler, but it probably does not differ greatly from that of the lutescent warbler, whose food has been more thoroughly studied. In winter, it probably eats a fair proportion of berries and other fruits, especially when it spends the winter somewhat farther north than insects are to be found in abundance. ”