THE GREAT MIGRATION 



3i 



birds too bold and noisy, and rather censured us for our 

 garish taste for the lark. An Englishman may reply that 

 American song-birds sing too little to create a healthy taste ; 

 but every lover of birds in the greenwood will be glad of this 

 praise for the willow- wren. 



Next to a budding larch-wood, the favourite haunt of the 

 willow-wren on first arrival is an oak copse on a ridge facing 



WILLOW-WREN 



the south. It is fond of nesting in such copses later on, 

 when the carpet of moss deepens on the bare earth, and it 

 can half bury its nest in a sort of cell. But in April the 

 attraction of the spot is equally strong for passing visitors ; 

 and it is due to their sunny aspect and the shelter provided 

 by the dead leaves clinging to the oak boughs. Such wooded 

 ridges are sometimes thronged with migrating willow-wrens 

 for a day or two in April. Willow-wrens are an extremely 

 abundant species, and are particularly plentiful in the moor- 

 land valleys of the north. To reach these haunts they must 

 pass through the more southern counties ; and the northern 



