244 BRITISH AND EUKOPEAN BIRDS. 



We often hear thy chit, ehitf song 



Call thy tiny brood along, 



While, in her nest, or on a spray, 



Tije throstle charms us with her lay ! 



Little warbler ! chearfiil wren ! 



The springtime's come and thou again. 



Little warbler ! thou, like me, 



Delight'st in home and harmless glee. 



What of peace is to be found. 



Circles all thy dwelling round ; 

 ^ Here, with love beneath the shade, 



Thy tranquil happiness is made; 



With thy tiny, faithful mate, 



Here meet'st resign'd the frowns of fate, 

 ( While prouder birds fly high or far. 



Or mix them in the strife of war, 



Or restless all the world through range, 

 I. And, restless, still, delight in change, 



Thou mak'st thy home a place of rest, 



Affection, love, and that is best ! 



Then welcome, welcome, faithful wren ! 



Thrice welcome to thy home again! 



Huntspill, Somerset ; March 1810. 



I believe it may be stated with truth that scarcely a year 

 passed from my earliest infancy in which a wren's nest was not to 

 be found behind the tree alluded to above; and if it be still 

 standing may, I dare say, be found there now. The redbreast 

 has been also a very common inhabitant of the banks near. 



As I always discouraged my own children in the practice of 

 robbing birds' nests, my garden became a sort of sanctuary for 

 the Goldfinch, the Chaffinch, the Thrush, &c. The goldfinch in 

 particular, became a denizen of it ; the garden was by no means 

 a secluded one, being close to a public road ; but the birds 

 soon found tlieir security in it: the young goldfinches were de- 

 stroyed occasionally by cats : this I could not prevent. Candour^ 



