BIRDS OF THE WOODLANDS 87 



for a little while, to be repeated again and again 

 with the same brief intervals intervening; a quiver- 

 ing, monotonous little song, yet expressing the very 

 spirit of the serene heights and leafy solitudes 

 amidst which the little warbler takes his devious 

 way . 



Standing far below on the carpet of fallen leaves, 

 and with the great boles rising on every hand, one 

 may gaze long into the maze of leaf and branch 

 before a glimpse of the singer can be gained. 

 Following the sound from spot to spot, one seems 

 to pursue a mere wandering voice, but at length 

 where the trees grow thinner a fluttering of tiny 

 wings may be caught. A single bough stands clear 

 against the sky, and here the Wood Wren alights. 

 Quietly it takes its course along the slender spray, 

 now pausing to utter its tremulous notes, which are 

 accompanied by a sympathetic quivering of wings 

 and tail ; now becoming silent as it explores each 

 leaf and twig for its imperceptible food. A moment 

 later it flits into the deeper woods and is seen no 

 more. 



It is noteworthy how many country people — wood- 

 men and others — w^hen questioned, have no know- 

 ledge whatever of the size and appearance of this 

 bird, whose notes they have heard in the trees above 

 their heads, summer by summer, from their earliest 

 childhood. 



The Willow Wren is the most familiar of the 

 summer warblers, not merely by reason of its greater 

 abundance, but because of its perfect freedom from 

 the shyness which marks so many of its tribe. In 



