THE WILLOW WARBLER. 109 



vegetation, exploring every branch and twig in search 

 of their insect prey, the males occasionally stopping to 

 warble forth their notes as they sit delicately poised on 

 some slender spray. You see the birds to advantage 

 when perched amongst the fresh and vernal foliage 

 of the birch just as it is emerging into leaf. Their 

 plumage resembles the surrounding foliage, and their 

 delicate form and graceful actions harmonise with the 

 slender twigs and branches. 



I know of few birds indeed which possess so sweet a 

 song as this frail little creature. It is plaintive and 

 soothing in the extreme, being so soft and rich in its 

 tone, commencing with a low and sweet twee-twee- twee, 

 and as the song approaches its end the notes swell 

 louder and richer, and finally cease in so low a strain as 

 to be scarcely audible a few yards away. He some- 

 times utters his song when flying through the air or 

 when coursing over the slender branches. He sings 

 incessantly throughout the spring and early summer, 

 but in July and August we seldom hear it save at the 

 morning's dawn, and by the end of the latter month it is 

 lost in the autumnal moult, to be regained, however, 

 when that season is passed, in all its former beauty a 

 circumstance found in no other migratory Warbler that 

 I am acquainted with, and, as far as I can determine, an 

 overlooked fact in the life history of this little sylvan 

 wanderer. Their call notes too are singularly low and 

 plaintive, and uttered when the birds are in motion or 

 when at rest. 



The trustfulness of the little Willow Warbler is 

 surprising. Seat yourself on some grassy bank in his 

 haunts, and you will be enabled to observe his motions 

 with ease. He will approach the bushes whose branches 

 droop over you, and seek his food within reach of your 



