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THE WOOD-WREN. 

 Phylloscopus sibilatrix (Bechstein). 



The Wood-Wren, the largest of the three members of the genus 

 which habitually visit us, is the latest to arrive ; seldom appearing 

 even in the south of England before the middle of April ; while in 

 September it departs for the winter. Owing to its marked prefer- 

 ence for woods, especially of beech, it is more local in its distribution 

 than the two preceding species ; for example, although very common 

 in some of the eastern parts of Cornwall, it is of rare occurrence in 

 the west of that county. It is to be found in suitable localities 

 throughout England, and, more sparingly, in Wales ; while in St. 

 Leonard's and Tilgate Forests in Sussex, the New Forest, Sherwood 

 Forest, and the woodlands of Cumberland, Westmorland, Yorkshire, 

 Durham and Northumberland it may be called abundant. In Scot- 

 land it is fairly distributed, and has apparently spread northward of 

 late years ; being recorded by Messrs. Harvie-Brown and Buckley 

 as breeding in the south-east of Sutherlandshire, and as having been 

 identified at Dunbeath in Caithness. Mr. A. C. Chapman recog- 

 nized it on North Uist, in the Outer Hebrides. To Ireland it is as 

 yet a rare visitor, having only been obtained in cos, Fermanagh, 

 Donegal and Dublin, and observed for several successive summers 

 in Wicklow. 



The Wood-Wren has not yet been proved to visit Norway, but it 

 is found in Sweden as far north as Upsala ; while it is very common 



