PLEASURES OF ORNITHOLOGY. 13 



The Red-breast (0 now, perennial warbler sweet ! 

 To mossy bank, to garden, and to grove. 

 To wood, to man — a welcome visitant, 

 Invokes the spring in loud and cheerful note. 

 Nor is the Wren{^) amid the throng unheard : 

 That tiny Sylviad, who a curious dome 

 Fashions with verdant moss, and entrance round 

 Of nicest intertexture ; and it deems 

 Secure amidst an ivied canopy ; 

 Or else, beneath some cottage eaves attached, 

 Presuming the protective power of man. 



Go now to yonder wall of sombre green, 

 For birds meet shelter — ever-verdant box. 



inmate of the family, he is peculiarly attentive and gracious, 

 evincing his fondness by gently pecking his face and playing 

 with ills hair; towards the same gentleman*s lady he evinces 

 very decided signs of displeasure at her approach, by raising his 

 feathers, and otherwise expressing his uneasiness. 



Although it has been conjectured that this bird, in attacking 

 the blossom buds of the plum, seeks for worms, I have been 

 lately informed that there is good reason for believing it does 

 attack the buds themselves^ and not for the worms. This cir<;um- 

 stance deserves investigation. 



(') Sylvia ruheaila, one of the few birds which sing in this 

 country at almost every season of the year. — (^) Sylvia troglo- 

 dytes » 



