BIRDS BROWN ABOVE AND WHITE BELOW. 57 



of neck dull white ; rest of under parts 3'ellowish- 

 white ; legs and feet brown. Summer migrant. 



Eggs. — 6-8, white, speckled with light red; 

 •62 X -46 inch (plate 124). 



Nest. — Half-domed, made of dry grass, lined with 

 feathers and hair, and placed on or near the ground 

 among grass or ferns, at the foot of a furze-bush, or 

 in a low bush. 



Distribution. — General. 



The name Willow- Wren is not apt, the bird 

 being in no special waj^^ connected with the willow. 

 Arriving early in April, it betakes itself for shelter 

 to woods and copses, and there the beautifully 

 cadenced song opens at once, bird answering bird 

 with untiring emulation. It forms a half -domed 

 nest among grass or ground-growth in hedge-banks, 

 open spaces in woods, or beneath a furze or other 

 bush, and may be looked for in gardens and orchards, 

 by the woodside or on commons, being very gener- 

 ally distributed. Plain greenish-brown above and 

 yellowish-white below, the Willow- Wren in its appear- 

 ance is of exquisite simplicity and delicacy. Although 

 called ' Wren,' it is a bird of smoother curves and 

 more elegant figure than the rotund, bustling, cock- 

 tailed little personage known as the Common Wren. 

 Its movements are restless, but with grace, and by 

 constantly bending over on the branches to seek 

 its insect-food on the under sides of the leaves, it 

 has acquired a forward stoop when perching, not 

 out of keeping with the fragile form and gentle 

 character of the bird. At times it darts out to 

 capture an insect on the wing in the manner of a Fly- 



