The Willow- Warbler. ioi 



being at tlie top as in the nest of the Chiffchaff; but in 1883, I obtained a very- 

 abnormal cup-shaped nest which was built under a gooseberry bush in an orchard; 

 the usual arched covering was rendered unnecessary from the fact that a large 

 clod of hard earth completely overhung the cup : in all probability this clod had 

 been accidentl}' flung over the nest when it was in course of construction and 

 the little architect instead of being scared away by the seeming misfortune, had 

 utilized it as a time-saver: this nest with its four beautifull}^ spotted eggs is still 

 in my collection. 



The nesting materials consist of dry grass, either coarse or fine, mixed with 

 fern, dead leaves or moss, and spiders' cocoons ; externally somewhat untidy in 

 appearance though firmly compacted: the lining consists of wool, hair, and plenty 

 of soft feathers, and has a neat and comfortable appearance. 



The eggs vary in number from four to eight ; but five to six are more 

 ixsuall}' found : the}' are pure white, rarely unspotted, sometimes finely speckled 

 and distinctly zoned round the larger extremity with rust-red, sometimes promi- 

 nently spotted irregularly with the same colour. Apart from their usiiall}' superior 

 size, the totally dissimilar colour of the spots would preclude the possibility of 

 these eggs being confounded with those of the Chiffchaff. 



Towards the end of July, 1887, a young example of the Willow- Warbler was 

 brought to me by two lads of my acquaintance, it had flown into their parents' 

 house, probably in pursuit of flies. At first it was very wild, so I turned it into 

 a cage, about eighteen inches cubic measure, with a hand-reared Sedge- Warbler. 

 The following morning, as I was offering a fly to the latter bird, the Willow- 

 Warbler sprang over his back and snatched it from my fingers ; it had become 

 perfectly tame in thirt3'-six hours. I mentioned this fact to Dr. Glinther who 

 assured me that, such being the case, he was certain (from his own experience) 

 the bird would die in a day or two : he could not explain why it was so, but it 

 was an invariable rule that, if Warblers became suddenl}' tame soon after capture, 

 they never lived long. The following morning my Willow- Wren was sitting 

 ruffled up with its head under its wing : but, after swallowing two caterpillars 

 and two house-flies, it appeared to recover its spirits and became as lively as at 

 first. In the afternoon my son offered it a fl}-, putting his hand into the cage 

 and holding the insect between his finger and thumb : the little bird flew down 

 upon his hand and took it, then hopped round pecking at his fingers. Half an 

 hour later it was found lying dead on the draw- tray of the cage. 



In July, 1889, I trapped two Willow- Wrens in my garden and turned them 

 loose in an aviary sixteen feet long ; there they seemed happy enough catching 

 flies and spiders ; but they did not seem to understand the soft food, although 



