MOOD WARBLER. 299 



Dipper, already figured at page 178, and the little birds 

 creep into the hollow chamber within by a small round hole, 

 generally left in the side. 



The Wood Warbler seldom arrives even in the southern 

 parts of England till near the end of April, the males, as in 

 some other instances, making their appearance a week or ten 

 days before the females. In Northumberland, Mr. Selby 

 says, this bird does not appear till the elm and the oak are 

 bursting into leaf; and that gentleman considers, from re- 

 peated observations, that with all our summer visitants there 

 is a difference of ten days or a fortnight between their arrival 

 in the southern and northern parts of the kingdom. 



The Wood Warbler is generally distributed through the 

 wooded districts, preferring old plantations and woods con- 

 taining tall trees, particularly those of oak or beech. The 

 males commence their simple song soon after their arrival, 

 and may frequently be heard from a lofty elm in a hedge 

 row. The note resembles the word twee, sounded very long, 

 and repeated several times in succession, at first but slowly, 

 afterwards much quicker, and when about to conclude is ac- 

 companied by a peculiar tremulous motion of the wings, 

 which are lowered by the side. The note is also occasionally 

 uttered while the bird is on the wing from one place to ano- 

 ther. The song is continued throughout the greater part of 

 the summer, and the bird leaves this country in September. 



The Wood Warbler neither eats fruit nor berries ; its food 

 appears to be insects and their larvse ; some are taken on the 

 wing, and others are sought for among the upper foliage of 

 trees. The nest is oval, and domed over, always placed on 

 the ground among herbage, and is formed of dry grass, dead 

 leaves, and some moss, and invariably lined with finer grass 

 and long hairs, but no feathers, which are used as lining to 

 some extent by both the other species of this genus, and 

 serve to distinguish their nests, which are also placed on the 

 ground, from that of the Wood Warbler. 



