PLATE I 

 WILLOW WREN. Phylloscopus trochilus 



May 24///, 1895. Returning from fishing one afternoon, I almost stepped 

 on to this nest. The little bird fluttered away from my very feet, and I saw 

 the nest almost immediately. It was built in a crevice among the roots of 

 an old birch stump which had begun to sprout again, and was almost 

 entirely made of dry grass profusely lined with feathers, and some tiny 

 pieces of rabbit fur, and contained seven fresh eggs. The bird was remark- 

 ably tame, and fluttered anxiously about among the twigs and dead stumps 

 within a few feet of me all the time I was examining the nest. 



I had some difficulty in finding it when I returned to photograph it next 

 day, though I had carefully marked it, as the immediate vicinity of the nest 

 was littered with dead oak leaves. Now, to my certain knowledge there were 

 no oak leaves there the day before, and there was no tree of that kind 

 within forty yards of the nest, neither was there any wind during the night 

 to blow them there. I am therefore very much inclined to think that the 

 birds had endeavoured to alter the appearance of the surroundings in order 

 to conceal the nest and to prevent my finding it again, and had carried the 

 leaves there themselves. I have an instance on record of a Blackbird's nest 

 which was adorned with a long strip of lace firmly woven into the side of 

 the nest, making it quite conspicuous ; this brought frequent visitors, who 

 generally managed to frighten off the sitting bird during the inspection of 

 the nest. On the fourth morning after the first discovery of the nest, the 

 lace was observed hanging in the branches of a fir-tree some fifty yards from 

 the nest, and the bird was sitting on her five eggs as usual. 



