THE BIRD-LIFE OF LONDON 
deer” upon which it subsists. Its progress, with tail 
erect, is more like that of a mouse than a bird, and 
on the rare occasions when it flies far.in the open it 
drifts along looking like a big brown leaf borne by 
the wind. During a lifetime spent in watching birds 
in almost every kind of circumstance I only remember 
to have seen the Wren hop upon the ground on one 
occasion. So unique was the experience that I recorded 
the date, March 31, 1897. I then saw a Wren cross a 
Devonshire lane for about half a dozen yards in a suc- 
cession of rapid hops, from the hedge on one side to a 
low wall on the other. ‘The Wren is a perennial songster. 
Except in the moulting season, in early autumn, its joyous, 
jerky, trilling song, loud and beautifully clear, stopping 
with a suddenness that always seems to suggest that the 
singer has been interrupted before it could be finished, 
may be heard almost everywhere. I often pause for a 
moment to listen to it in the London parks. The call- 
notes are loud and startling, uttered in snatches in rapid 
succession, and most frequently heard when the bird is 
alarmed. Its food consists largely of insects, but also of 
seeds and fruits, according to season. Except during 
the nesting season, and for a week or so after the young 
can fly, the Wren is solitary enough, although there can 
be little doubt that in many cases the birds pair for life 
and yearly breed in one particular spot. Itisasomewhat 
early breeder, and eggs for the first brood may be found 
in April, those for later ones in June. The large, globular 
nest is made in bushes and thickets, amongst ivy on walls 
or tree-trunks, in old walls, in haystacks and sheds, in 
thatch, under banks, amongst tree roots, and on old ivy- 
covered stumps in the hedges. ‘There are other sites 
more exceptional, but which possibly occur to many 
readers. The nest is made of moss, dry leaves and grass, 
lichens, rcots, and dead fern- fronds, lined with hair and 
feathers. The entrance-hole is bound round with grass 
96 
