240 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



though most noticeable during spring or at the end of winter, 

 when with its stump erected and often with the tip pointed 

 forward, and its whole body a-quiver with energy, it pours forth 

 its song of love or challenge. Only once can I recollect seeing 

 a bird in song with tail depressed. When fighting, this light- 

 weight pugilist sings at its opponent, and on more than one 

 occasion when interlocked antagonists have allowed themselves 

 to be taken in the hand, fight and song were resumed immediately 

 on release. At night, usually in winter, it often roosts, true to 

 its name, in dark retreats, snug holes and even old nests. 

 Seebohm emphatically denies the statement that it ever does so 

 in parties — either consisting of the family or of many individuals 

 gathered together for warmth ; but the evidence is too strong ; 

 indeed in my own experience I have come across several 

 instances of gregarious roosting. For the most part only small 

 insects and spiders are its food, but in winter large pupae are 

 swallowed, and some seeds are added. 



The Wren has a passion for nest-building, constructing more 

 than it uses — an unexplained waste of energy. " Cock-nests " 

 these are called, but though the male builds it is not certain 

 that he is the only wasteful worker ; some are never lined, some 

 but half finished. The normal round nest is tucked into a hole 

 in a wall, tree trunk, crack in a rock or corner of a building, 

 but it is often built in bushes, overhanging boughs and the litter 

 which accumulates in branches washed by floods. It is true 

 that the materials used often aid concealment — grass in a hay- 

 stack, moss on a rock, lichens on a tree, leaves amongst litter — 

 but this is probably unintentional, due to the accessibility of 

 these substances ; many nests are suicidally conspicuous (Plate 

 98). Dead leaves are largely used in the outer envelope, but 

 the lining of moss, hair or feathers varies in quantity as well as 

 material. On two occasions I have found nests containing eggs 

 incompletely domed ; they were mere cups in holes with the 

 entrance reduced by a slight arch of grass. On the moors the 



