110 THE WILLOW WREN. 



mit of some bush, utters its brief modulation, and seeks 

 retirement again. Its chief habitation is some hedge in 

 the rick-yard, some cottage garden, or near society with 

 man. Unobtrusive, it does not enter our dwellings like 

 the redbreast, but picks minute insects from the edges 

 of drains and ditches, or morsels from the door of the 

 poorest dwelling in the village. As an example of a 

 household or domestic bird, none can be found with 

 better pretensions to such a character than the hedge- 

 sparrow. 



I always hear with delight the earliest chirpings of 

 that pretty harbinger of spring, the willow wren (mo- 

 tacilla trochillus), trilling its wild and gleeful " chiff 

 chaffs," as it chases the insects round the branches of 

 the old oak in the copse, or on the yellow catkins of 

 the sallow, itself almost like a colored catkin too. But 

 this elegant little bird is noticed only by the lovers and 

 frequenters of the country ; it animates the woods by 

 its constant activity ; the frequent repetition of its most 

 cheerful modulation contributes essentially to the pleas- 

 ing harmony of the grove ; and its voice is most sprightly 

 and frequent, when the morning is illumined with one 

 of those mild, walk-enticing gleams, that render this 

 short season the most delightful of our year. It builds 

 its nest, and rears its young with us ; visits our gardens, 

 but is no plunderer there, living almost entirely upon 

 insect food ; and its whole life is passed in harmlessness 

 and innocence. As it is the earliest that arrives, so it 

 is the last, I believe, of our feathered choir that leaves 

 us, except a few lingering, irresolute swallows ; and we 

 hear it piping its final autumnal farewell even in Octo- 

 ber at times, and sporting with hilarity and joy, when 

 all its congeners are departed. 



It is a difficult matter satisfactorily to comprehend 

 the object of this bird in quitting another region, and 

 passing into our island. The chief motives for migra- 

 tion seem to be "food, a milder climate, and quiet during 

 the period of incubation and rearing their young : but 

 the willow wren, and some others of our insectivorous 

 birds, appear to have other purposes to accomplish by 

 their annual migrations. These little creatures, the 



