The Willow- Warbler. ioi 



being at the top as in the nest of the Chiffchaff; but in 1883, I obtained a very 

 abnormal ciip-shaped nest which was built under a gooseberry bush in an orchard; 

 the usual arched covering was rendered unnecessary from the fact that a large 

 clod of hard earth completely overhung the cup : in all probability this clod had 

 been accidently flung over the nest when it was in course of construction and 

 the little architect instead of being scared away b}' the seeming misfortune, had 

 utilized it as a time-saver: this nest with its four beautifully spotted eggs is still 

 in my collection. 



The nesting materials consist of dry grass, either coarse or fine, mixed with 

 fern, dead leaves or moss, and spiders' cocoons ; externally somewhat untidy in 

 appearance though firmly compacted: the lining consists of wool, hair, and plenty 

 of soft feathers, and has a neat and comfortable appearance. 



The eggs vary in number from four to eight ; but five to six are more 

 usually found : they are pure white, rarely unspotted, sometimes finely speckled 

 and distinctly zoned round the larger extremity with rust-red, sometimes promi- 

 nently spotted irregularly with the same colour. Apart from their usuall}' superior 

 size, the totally dissimilar colour of the spots would preclude the possibility of 

 these eggs being confounded with those of the Chiffchaff. 



Towards the end of July, 1887, a young example of the Willow- Warbler was 

 brought to me by two lads of my acquaintance, it had flown into their parents' 

 house, probably in pursuit of flies. At first it was very wild, so I turned it into 

 a cage, about eighteen inches cubic measure, with a hand-reared Sedge- Warbler. 

 The following morning, as I was offering a fly to the latter bird, the Willow- 

 Warbler sprang over his back and snatched it from my fingers ; it had become 

 perfectly tame in thirty-six hours. I mentioned this fact to Dr. Glinther who 

 assured me that, such being the case, he was certain (from his own experience) 

 the bird would die in a day or two : he could not explain wh}' it was so, but it 

 was an invariable rule that, if Warblers became suddenly tame soon after capture, 

 they never lived long. The following morning my Willow- Wren was sitting 

 ruffled up with its head under its wing : but, after swallowing two caterpillars 

 and two house-flies, it appeared to recover its spirits and became as lively as at 

 first. In the afternoon my son offered it a fl}', putting his hand into the cage 

 and holding the insect between his finger and thumb : the little bird flew down 

 upon his hand and took it, then hopped round pecking at his fingers. Half an 

 hour later it was found lying dead on the draw- tray of the cage. 



In July, 1889, I trapped two Willow- Wrens in my garden and turned them 

 loose in an aviary sixteen feet long ; there they seemed happy enough catching 

 flies and spiders ; but they did not seem to understand the soft food, although 



