128 



THE BIRDS OF THE WOODS 



majority belonging to the Eastern Hemisphere. They are birds of the woods, or 

 rather of the underwood, through which they creep like mice. They fly reluctantly, 

 and their flight is short, straight, and whirring. The males have a rather 

 melodious song, consisting of only one bar, of which they never tire all through 

 the year. The nests are built mostly of moss, but also of leaves and grass, so 

 as to be inconspicuous among the surroundings, and are placed in the fork of 



two branches, never far 

 from the ground. They 

 are round as a ball and 

 have the entrance at the 

 side. 



The common wren 

 of Europe {Troglodytes 

 vulgaris), which is 

 nearly or quite as small 

 as the goklcrest, and of 

 the same weight, is dis- 

 tributed over the whole 

 of the Continent to 

 Finland and beyond the 

 Arctic Circle, but is not 

 met with farther east 

 than the Urals, the 

 - « Caucasus, and northern 



Persia. It is easily re- 

 cognised by its brown 

 plumage, barred on the 

 body and tail with 

 darker brown. Though a bird of the forest, 

 but not of the pine-forest, it seems to prefer a 

 h>'dge to any other place, and is seldom seen 

 on high trees, as it likes to be near the ground. 

 It is most familiar in its ways, and is often 

 seen in sheds, on wood-piles and heaps of dry 

 branches, and among the climbing plants on 

 cottage walls. In most countries it is resident, 

 the wren. but in others it is a migrant, appearing in 



March and April and again in October. The 

 breeding-nest usually contains eggs in the second half of April, and in June; but 

 the bird has other nests, made to draw otf attention from the real one, these being 

 generally occupied by males only, which sleep in them, mostly several together, 

 during winter. These sleeping-nests are seldom, if ever, lined, while the breeding- 

 nests are always neatly lined with leaves. The wren inhabiting the island of St. 

 Kilda has been described as a distinct species, but can scarcely be regarded as 

 more than a local race of the ordinary wren. It has been nearly exterminated by 

 egg-collectors. 



