THE WREN. 



Clare, the Northamptonshire poet, thus addresses 

 this pretty little bird, which, hke the redbreast, fre- 

 quently approaches the habitation of man, and enlivens 

 the rustic garden with its song the greater part of the 

 year. 



" Why is the cuckoo's melody preferr'd, 

 And nightingale's rich song so fondly prais'd 

 In poet's rhymes? Is there no other bird 

 Of Nature's minstrelsy, that oft hath rais'd 

 One's heart to ecstasy and mirth so well? 

 I judge not how another's taste is caught ; 

 With mine are other birds that bear the bell, 

 Whose songs hath crowds of happiest memories brought : 

 Such the wood-robin singing in the deU, 

 And little wren, that many a time hath sought 

 Shelter from showers in huts where I may dwell 

 In early spring, the tenant of the plain. 

 Tending my sheep ; and still they come to teU 

 The happy stories of the past again." 



This favourite of one of our shepherd-poets enlivens 

 our rustic gardens with its sprightly note during the 

 greater part of the year. It very commonly builds under 



