WILLOW-WREN. 433 
spitting of a cat, when the male is chasing the female fast and furious 
through the woods. The usual call-note is a whit, almost like that of the 
Chaffinch or Redstart; this is often heard if you approach too near the 
nest. If you frighten the bird off, especially if the eggs are nearly hatched, 
a still more plaintive note is heard—a rapidly uttered sound, something 
hike na, na, na, na. 
The Willow-Wren is sometimes seen on the ground, where it hops like 
a Robin ; sometimes it perches on a rail; but it is essentially a bird of 
the bushes and trees. Its flight is undulating but rapid. This bird moults 
_ early ; and the song is partially resumed in August. Its food consists prin- 
cipally of small insects ; but in autumn it also eats currants, elder-berries, 
and other soft fruits. 
The nest is almost always concealed amongst grass on the ground, and 
is almost impossible to find, except by watching the female drop down on 
to it, or by accidentally frightening her off. It is semi-domed, the rim 
which forms the entrance being at an angle of about 45°. It is somewhat 
loosely constructed outside with dead grass, and sometimes a little moss 
or a few dry leaves. Inside it is more carefully finished, and is lined with 
fine roots, horsehair, and lastly with a profusion of feathers. 
The eggs vary in number from five to eight, and are white or pale creamy 
white in ground-colour, blotched, spotted, and speckled with pale brownish 
red. In some specimens the spots are small and finely powdered over 
the whole shell; in others the markings are confluent, usually at the large 
end of the egg, sometimes forming a zone, and sometimes with a few streaks 
of rich brown. In some examples the spots are much richer and more 
numerous than in others. In shape they vary not a little, sometimes 
being almost round. They vary in length from ‘73 to °56 inch, and in 
breadth from °5 to :45 inch. 
The eggs of all the British Willow-Warblers possess certain character- 
istics which readily distinguish them from each other. Those of the 
Common Willow-Warbler are readily identified by their pale reddish- 
brown markings, those of the Chiffchaff by their less numerous and very 
dark red spots; and those of the Wood-Wren are darkest of all, being 
thickly marked with purplish coffee-brown and underlying spots of pale 
violet-grey. From the eggs of many of the Tits it is a more difficult 
matter to distinguish the eggs of the two former Willow-Warblers ; but 
the situation and shape of the nest are sufficient for their identification. 
The adult Willow-Warbler in spring plumage has the general colour of 
the upper parts olive-green, somewhat yellower on the rump. An in- 
distinct greenish-yellow eye-stripe extends from the base of the bill as far 
as the crown; the feathers before the eye, and behind the eye as far as 
the crown, are dark olive-green. The wing-coverts are olive, edged with 
olive-green; and the quills are brown, narrowly tipped with greyish white, 
VOL. I. QF 
