THE COMMON WREN 141 



that bird as a popular favourite. It may be met 

 with almost everywhere — woods, hedges, shrubberies, 

 thickets, sunk-fences, dry ditches, gardens, farm- 

 yards, remote districts, and in the vicinity of towns 

 and villages ; all are equally favoured by the tiny 

 nut-brown bird. Few birds are more restless ; it is 

 incessantly on the move, up and down, and in and 

 out, appearing for a moment here and there, then 

 lost to view again, playing an incessant game of 

 hide-and-seek, and in many of its actions more like 

 a mouse than a bird. It is essentially a bird of the 

 undergrowth, rarely seen at any great height from 

 the ground, and through its restless ways only 

 allowing us to gain the most transitory view of its 

 movements. Its actions are by no means Tit-like ; 

 rather do they resemble those of the Hedge 

 Accentor ; for like that bird the Wren will glide and 

 hop with astonishing speed through the thickest 

 cover. Its flight is weak, and when taken just 

 above the ground the bird looks more like a swirling 

 leaf caught by a sudden gust of wind and whirled 

 along than aught else. For the greater part of the 

 year it is also one of the most solitary of birds, and 

 may be watched going its own way quite alone. It 

 is most amusing to see with what agility this bird- 

 mite will twist in and out, squeezing through 

 crevices, and vanishing under roots to appear again 

 in another part of the hedge ; or how impudently it 

 will bob its body up and down and cock its tiny tail 

 over its back as it glides once more into the cover. 



