WILLOW WREN. 45 



herbage on the ground, usually in some spot where 

 the sun can penetrate, such as a moss-covered bank, 

 or the slope of a hill, or in the twisted roots of a tree.* 

 It is extremely difficult to find, and as a rule is only 

 discovered by starting the bird or watching it drop 

 down to it. It is made of dry grass, moss and leaves, 

 and lined with grass and hair, but never (like the 

 Willow Wren and Chiff-chaff) with feathers. 



The eggs, five to seven, have a ground colour pure 

 white, and are spotted and speckled all over with rich 

 claret-coloured markings and with violet-grey shell 

 markings. They are not likely to be confused with 

 those of any other warbler, especially if the nest and 

 its construction are examined. 



WILLOW WREN. 



PHYLLOSCOPUS TROCHILUS. 

 Family Passerid^. Sub-family Sylvhn^, Genus Phyllos- 



COPUS. 



Willow Warbler — Yellow Warbler — Haybird — Huck Muck — 

 Ground Wren. 



This is one of the commonest of our little Warblers, 

 and is found in all parts of Great Britain and Ireland. 

 Early in April they come to us in thousands. The 

 Willow Wren does not frequent lofty trees like the 

 Wood Wren, but keeps to the hedgerows and planta- 



* Meyer states that he has taken a perfectly open nest of 

 this bird among the dead branches of an old bramble on St. 

 Anne's Hill in Surrey. It resembled very much the nest of 

 the Whitethroat. This, however, must be regarded as a very 

 unusual occurrence. 



