THE MARSH BIRDS OF SUSSEX. 57 



formed an arched roof. This was evidently a sanctum 

 for the smaller birds. Barnes and I alone went 

 in. We found a nest of the Wren (Troglodytes 

 Europeans) just at the entrance, close to a stump en- 

 tirely made of moss. In the ivy covering the stump, 

 about 6 feet above our heads, we dug out the nest 

 of a creeper ( Cesthia familiaris\ with five eggs hard 

 set. But best of all was a willow wren's ( T. trochilus) 

 nest, the most beautiful 

 I ever saw of this 

 species, underneath an 

 old coal-scuttle. The 

 bird flew out, and we 

 soon examined its six 

 eggs, which were beau- 

 tifully pink. A number 

 of wrens were close to ' 

 the stone wall, making 

 a great clamour. We 



went very quickly, yet NEST op SAVI>S WARBLER . 

 cautiously, towards 

 them. In the hedge 



sat a large common snake (Tropidontus natrix], in 

 the act of swallowing a wren, whose nest was not far 

 off in the withered leaves among the thorns. There 

 was a good deal of earth used in it. It was firm, 

 and the leaves of which it was made were dark 

 chocolate-colour, being those of the beech. About 

 half a mile off, in a high hawthorn, on an almost in- 

 accessible branch, was a magpie's (Corvus pica) 

 deserted nest. Some owls had been observed to 

 hoot near the spot the evening before, but none 



