. History of British birds : the figures engraved on wood . itting, if a cat or other voracious animal ftiouldhappen to come near the neft, the mother endea-vours to divert it from the fpot by a llratagem fi-milar to that by which the Partridge mifleads thedog : She fprings up, flutters from fpot to fpot, andby that means allures her enemy to a fafe France, the Hedge-fparrow is rarely feen but inwinter; it arrives generally in 06tober, and de-parts in the fpring for more northern regions,where it breeds. It is fuppofed to brave the ri-gours of winter in Sweden, and that it alTumest
. History of British birds : the figures engraved on wood . itting, if a cat or other voracious animal ftiouldhappen to come near the neft, the mother endea-vours to divert it from the fpot by a llratagem fi-milar to that by which the Partridge mifleads thedog : She fprings up, flutters from fpot to fpot, andby that means allures her enemy to a fafe France, the Hedge-fparrow is rarely feen but inwinter; it arrives generally in 06tober, and de-parts in the fpring for more northern regions,where it breeds. It is fuppofed to brave the ri-gours of winter in Sweden, and that it alTumesthe white plumage common in thofe fevere cli-mates in that feafon. Its fong is little varied, butpleafant, efpecially in a feafon when all the otherwarblers are filent: Its ufual ftrain is a fort of qui-vering, frequently repeating fomething like the fol-lowing iii-tittiiiiii, from whence, in fome places,it is called the Titling. We have already obfer-ved that the Cuckoo frequently makes ufe of theneft of this bird to depofit her egg in. BRITISH BIRDS. 215. THE REED FAUVETTE. SEDGE BIRD.{MotacUla Sa/icanay Lin.—La Fativette de rofeaux^ Buff.) This elegant little bird is about the fize of theBlack-cap: Its bill is dufl-cy: eyes hazel; thecrown of the head and back are brown, markedwith dufky ftreaks ; the rump tawny; the cheeksare brown ; over each eye there is a light ftreak;the wing coverts are dulky, edged with pale brown,as are alfo the quills and tail; the throat, bread,and belly are white—the latter tinged with yel-low ; the thighs are yellow ; legs dufky ; the hindclaws are long and much bent. This bird is found in places where reeds andfedges grow, and builds its nefl; there ; it is madeof dried grafs and tender fibres of plants, and linedwith hair, and ufually contains five eggs, of a dir- P4 3l6 BRITISH BIRDS. ty white, mottled with brown; it likewife frequentsthe fides of rivers and ponds where there is covert:It fings inceffantly night and day, during the breed-in
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