WOOD WREN 



Pkylloscopus sibtlatnx 



ALTHOUGH somewhat more local in its distribution than 

 its congeners the Willow Wren and Chiffchaff, the 

 Wood Wren is not an uncommon bird in the British 

 Islands, and is found in England, Scotland, and Ireland, 

 very plentifully in some localities. It is a summer visitor 

 to our Islands, wintering in the north of Africa. 



The Wood Wren arrives in this country nearly a 



fortnight later than its congeners, and in Scotland its song is rarely heard 

 until early in May. They arrive in perfect plumage, and almost rival the 

 delicate yellowish green of the young leaves among which they pass the day ; 

 on a sunny morning the woods appear to be full of them, and they seem 

 to answer each other in song from far and wide. For the first few days after 

 their arrival they are somewhat silent, and only their long-drawn, plaintive 

 call-note, ' tee-ii, tee-ii] is to be heard. After a few days' rest, however, they 

 burst forth into full song. The males seem to devote their whole attention 

 to nothing else ; they sing all day, sometimes when flying through the air, 

 more often sitting on some branch wings, tail, and throat quivering with the 

 exertion. When once heard, the song of the Wood Wren can hardly be 

 forgotten ; it commences with a few chirping notes, gradually increasing in 

 rapidity till it ends in a peculiar shivering trill, the note gradually descending 

 chromatically. It may be represented on paper as follows, ' tit-tit-titr-rit- 

 r-r-rr-rrrr? Often at the end of the song the call-note is repeated three 

 times slowly, ' tee-ii, tee-ii, teee-uii! 



The food of the Wood Wren is almost entirely composed of insects and 



their larvae. This they obtain among the leaves of the trees and undergrowth, 



searching under the leaves like the Tits, sometimes hanging under a branch 



like a Tit, or hovering like the Willow Wren. They are most restless little 



VOL. in. i 33 



