WOOD-WREN.
hushes. Tin- countless varieties of small insect life that bl their various stages Infest vegetation •anew
to fiiriti-.il the whole of the food of this useful ami harmless species. Though frequently seen Hitting through
the branches in close proximity to both Willow-Wrens anil Chill'eltalTs, the excessive brightness of their
plumage renders it impossible to confuse them with those birds.
The neat of the Wood-Wren has come under my observation in many localities in bub England and
Scotland. In every instance il has been placed on the ground, or, at most, at an elevation of only a few
inches. Owing to the effect which much of the limber, beneath which this species places its nest, produces
on vegetation, it is not unfrequcutly found in situations where the immediate cover is somen hal scanty.
Though there are, of course, many exceptions, the Willow-Wren and Chiffchaff for the most part eoneeal
their nests wil h greater care, at times in rank grass with a small mouse-like track to the entrance. I have
now and then come across the nest of a Wood-Wren built almost openly on the bare ground, merely sheltered
by a lew straggling tufts of herbage or seme twining plant in which a few dead leaves have caught and
lodged. If cautiously watched, the birds may now and then be detected dropping like stones from one of
the overhanging branches to the immediate vicinity of the nest.
The cradle itself is domed, with a side entrance, resembling, to a certain degree, the nests of the
Willow-Wren and Chiffchaff. It is, however, seldom so elaborately- worked up, the construction of the exterior
being looser, and the lining of the interior, which is devoid of feathers, being for the ino«t part less finished.
The eggs, which are a shade larger than those of its relatives, are of a beautiful piukish white ground, thickly
marki'd with rich warm brown spots. Like the eggs of all the family, they lose their beauty soon after
incubation commences. Those seen in the cabinet of the collector licar also but a l'aiut resemblance to the
appearance they presented when fresh laid.