PlIYLLOSCOPUS TEOCHILUS (L illHiEUS *).
THE WILLOW-WREN.
Sylvia trocliilus.
T h e W i l l o w -W e e n visits this country every spring,
earlier in the season than the bird last described, but about
the same time as the Blackcap. Around London, and in
the southern counties, it appears towards the end of March
or at the beginning of April, and is generally seen and heard
throughout England by the middle of the month last mentioned.
Selby has noticed its arrival in Northumberland as
soon as the larch-trees are green. Some few localities excepted,
the Willow-Wren is found in greater numbers and,
as will presently he shewn in further detail, is more generally
dispersed throughout the British Islands than either the
Wood-Wren last described or the Chiffchaff of which an
account is to follow. Its presence is at once proclaimed by
* Motacilla trochilus, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 338 (1766).
its cheerful carol, and indeed the bird is not whose strains
can be more aptly associated in the memory with all the
delights of returning spring. Passing by a plantation or
wood at that loveliest season of the year, one may meet at
every score or so of yards this sprightly little musician,
whose joyous burst of song is in fit harmony with the freshness
of the hourly-expanding verdure, and is repeated time
after time until all around thrills with the loud and merry
chorus, for the strain can be heard at a very considerable
distance and the numerous performers are then in their
fullest vigour. Mr. Hewitson well says that “ however
highly the rich melody of some of the other warblers may
be prized, there is a simplicity and a sweet cadence about
the note of this species, which never fails to excite within
me feelings of pleasure, which none but the lover of nature
can either appreciate or understand, but which are to him
amongst the chief enjoyments of his life.” Nor is the
admiration which the Willow-Wren inspires confined to its
vocal powers. Its restless but graceful activity, the fearlessness
with which it exposes itself to view as it flits from
twig to twig, and the still greater confidence it sometimes
displays, justly render it dear to all who care to study birds
as they live.
The Willow-Wren frequents, for the most part, trees—
of what growth or of what kind seems to matter little ; hut
it may also be not seldom found contenting itself with the
thorns or furze of a common. I t is lively and amusing in
its actions, continually searching for small insects and not
unfrequently capturing them on the wing in the pauses of
its song. I t begins to build its nest soon after its arrival
in this country and betrays a singular amount of solicitude
on the spot being approached, coupled at the same time
with much disregard of its personal safety, for it will hop
from hough to bough or occupy a station within a few feet
of the intruder and attract his attention by a note of anxiety
or even distress, which somewhat resembles that of the
Chaffinch under similar circumstances. As the season advances
and the Willow-Wren’s cares are still more centred
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