Anglesey 



myself that I would present my little friend to the 

 world as she had never before been presented. Alas ! 

 the wood-wren went the way of the redstart and 

 flycatcher. In spite of all my labour, and a desire 

 to retain some tangible memorial of this two days' 

 friendship of man and bird, I obtained a series of 

 plates which would develop no farther than was 

 sufficient to show me what I had lost. The nest was 

 packed among the dead leaves on the ivy-covered 

 ground, and is a domed structure with the entrance 

 at the side. There is often a piece of twig at the 

 side, which serves as a perching-place for the old 

 bird when feeding the young. 



The wood-wren's nest was on the side of the 

 wood toward the sea, and farther down, the slope 

 ended at the verge of a rock cliff falling some twenty 

 feet or so to the stony shore below. At the foot of 

 this cliff" grey wagtails might always be seen posing 

 or feeding. This beautiful bird is easily to be dis- 

 tinguished from the yellow wagtail by the fact that, 

 although both have the underparts yellow, the grey 

 species has a blue-grey back, whilst the so-called 

 yellow wagtail has the upper parts of an olive colour. 

 The pied wagtail was found in large numbers and 

 generally distributed by land and shore ; the grey 

 wagtail was less plentiful and more local in its 

 occurrence ; while the yellow wagtail was not seen 

 at all, and is, I understand from resident observers, 

 a very scarce bird in this district. 



One needs, perhaps, scarcely mention the ring- 



239 



