THE WREN. 



107 



when engaged in the unhallowed sport of bird-nesting. It 

 is also included in the following list of birds, whose nest it 

 is deemed unlucky to molest : — 



The Laverock and the Lintie, 



The Robin and the Wren, 

 If ye harry their nests, 



Ye '11 never thrive again. ^ 



1 See Popular Rhymes of Scotland, by E. Chambers, New Edition, p. 187, 

 1888. For further particulars regarding the popular rhymes and superstitions 

 connected with the Wren, see Macgillivray's British Birds, vol. iii. p. 19 ; 

 Yarrell's British Birds, 4th Edition, vol. i. pp. 465, 466 ; Folk Lore of the 

 Northern Counties, pp. 123, 124, 125 ; Folk Lore of British Birds, pp. 35-43 ; 

 Faune Populaire de la France, Eugene Rolland, t. ii., " Les Oiseaux sauvages," 

 pp. 288-301. 



