THROUGH THE WOODS. 91 



music is uttered, each refrain louder and more 

 confident than the last, until the stranger bird 

 seems to have got over all the troubles of the 

 long journey here, and has abandoned itself to 

 happiness and to love. For other little songs are 

 now heard in answering voices, here and there 

 among the nut-bushes and high up in the. catkined 

 birches. The hen-birds have come at last, the 

 cocks gallantly awaiting their arrival before be- 

 ginning their concert, and rivalry is a strong 

 incentive to song. Three days after the arrival 

 of these first venturesome migrants the woods, 

 from dawn to even, are absolutely alive with 

 Willow Wrens, and echoing with their bridal 

 hymns of joy. 



The Willow Wren and its two congeners 

 about to be mentioned are birds of restless habit, 

 incessantly hopping about the trees and bushes in 

 quest of the insects on which they feed. Many 

 of these are caught whilst the birds are fluttering 

 in the air. All three species breed in May and 

 June. The Willow Wren pairs soon after its 

 arrival, and its nest is usually placed on a bank 

 amongst the herbage. It is a loosely made struc- 

 ture, composed of dry grass and leaves, moss, 

 rootlets, and lined with hair and a profusion of 

 feathers, semi-domed in form, having the ap- 

 pearance of being overturned. Some nests are 

 much more globular than others. The six or 

 seven eggs are white, blotched and spotted with 

 pale reddish brown. The young are soon aban- 

 doned when they leave the nest. Only one brood 

 is reared, and soon after the autumn moult the 

 southern flight commences. 



Two other species belonging to the little group 



