234 Birds. 



green ; the under parts are pale yellow, and a streak of 

 yellow passes over the eyes. The wings and tail are 

 brown, edged with yellowish green ; and the legs are 

 inclined to yellow. This bird is migratory, visiting us 

 usually about the middle of April, and taking its depar- 

 ture towards the end of September. The female con- 

 structs her nest in holes at the roots of trees, in hollows 

 of dry banks, and other similar places. It is round, and 

 not unlike the nest of the Wren. The eggs are dusky 

 white, marked with reddish spots, and are five in num- 

 ber. A Willow Wren had built in a bank of one of the 

 fields of Mr. White, near Selborne. This bird, a friend 

 and himself observed as she sat in her nest, but were par- 

 ticularly careful not to disturb her, though she eyed them 

 with some degree of jealousy. Some days afterwards, as 

 they passed the same way, they were desirous of remark- 

 ing how the brood went on; but no nest could be found, 

 till Mr. White happened to take up a large bundle of 

 long green moss, which had been thrown, as it were, care- 

 lessly over the nest, in order to mislead the eye of any 

 impertinent intruder. 



Mr. White distinguished no fewer than three varieties 

 of the Willow Wren. "I have now," he writes, "past 

 dispute, made out three distinct species of the Willow 

 Wrens, which constantly and invariably use distinct 

 notes." " I have specimens of the three sorts now 

 lying before me, and can discern that there are three 

 gradations of sizes, and that the least has black legs, and 

 the other two, flesh-coloured ones. The yellowest 'bird 

 is considerably the largest, and has its quill feathers and 

 secondary feathers tipped with white, which the others 

 have not. The last haunts only the tops of trees and 

 high beechen woods, and makes a sibilous grasshopper- 

 like noise, now and then, at short intervals, shivering a 

 little with its wings when it sings." Mr. Markwich, 

 however, declared that he was totally unable to discover 

 more than one species. 



