414 THE WOOD WEEN. 



would hurt it ; so that it frequently washed itself three or four 

 times a day, which at last weakened it so much, that on a cold 

 day it caused its death. It never attempted to sing while I had 

 it in confinement, which was probably from its being an old bird; 

 and I have not been able to procure another since. It throve re- 

 markably well on the same sort of food as the other birds of this 

 tribe, but was particularly fond of the yolk of an egg boiled hard, 

 also of the raw lean meat that was cut up small, and mixed in 

 the bread and bruised hemp seed ; it would also occasionally feed 

 on the bread and milk, but it was not so fond of that as some of 

 the other birds. Insects of various sorts it was very partial to, 

 particularly small caterpillars, ants' eggs, spiders, moths, and 

 butterflies, and flies of various sorts; the latter it was very 

 dexterous in catching when they came near its cage. 



" These birds are not uncommon in several parts of England ; 

 they are said to be plentiful on Malmsbury Common, Wiltshire, 

 in summer, where they breed ; they are also frequently seen in 

 Norfolk and Suffolk, and in various other parts, where tney build 

 their nest among some high grass or sedge, in which it is so con- 

 cealed, that it is with difficulty found, except by watching the 

 old birds carrying food to their young ; or when they are build- 

 ing, they may be seen carrying materials to construct their nest. 

 The young ones may be easily reared by placing their nest in a 

 little covered basket, nearly filled with dry moss or soft hay, and 

 to be fed, whenever they require it, with the same sort of food 

 as recommended for the old ones ; being careful to keep them 

 clean, and a few very small gravel stones should be mixed with 

 their food occasionally, that their bones may become strong and 

 firm, so that they may not be cramped." 



162. THE WOOD WREST. 

 Sylvia Sylvicola, LATH AM and MONTAGUE. Sylvia Sibillatrix^vuMivtCK. 



Phyllopneuste /Sy/wco^MACGiLLivRAY. Wood Warbler, Wood Wren, 



Yellow Wren, Yellow Wood Wren. 



This is another of the Warbler genus of birds which is not de- 

 scribed by BECHSTEIN . YAHRELL observes, that though called Mo- 

 tacilla Trochilm by GILBERT WHITE, it was clearly distinguished 

 by him from the two most nearly allied species, (the Willow- 

 Warbler and the Chiff-chaff, which with this bird form 

 MACGILLIVRAY'S genus Phyllopneuste) as early as 1762. In 

 1796, COL. MONTAGUE, having seen and heard this species in 

 various localities in several western counties, and having 

 obtained also some specimens, nests, and eggs, furnished par- 

 ticulars of it to the Linnaean Society, which were published in 



