122 BRITISH BIRDS' EGGS. 



THE COMMON WREN. Sylvia troglodytes. This little 

 hardy bird is found even to the Arctic circle, while it is 

 distributed over every part of Britain. Bold and venture- 

 some as it is at some seasons, in its approach to our habita- 

 tions, no bird perhaps excels the present in careful con- 

 trivance to secure its eggs and young from discovery ; and 

 while we have heard its song in the early morning in many 

 directions among the ruins of a neighbouring abbey, and 

 were assured the nests were there likewise, we failed to dis- 

 cover them. In the ivy-covered hole of a wall, or among 

 the fallen masses, the nests of the Eedbreasts might be 

 found, but for the nest of the Wren we looked in vain. Its 

 ingenuity consists not only in selecting a retired or unsus- 

 pected spot for its nest, but in most skilfully adapting the 

 materials of which it is composed to the appearance of those 

 substances among which it may be placed : thus in the 

 green ivy, dark mosses will elude observance, or the russet 

 hues of faded foliage or vegetation are imitated with sub- 

 stances of a kindred nature; and often, perhaps, the only 

 circumstance which directs the eye of the passer-by to the 

 nest, is the neat arrangement of the materials immediately 

 around the entrance. The nest is rounded, or oval, in form, 

 with a small opening in front, just capable of admitting the 



