186 



KEARTONS' NATURE PICTURES 



Anyone with a moderate ear for music 

 will readily identify the bird under notice 



WOOD WHEN. 



by either its call-note or song. The 

 former is an oft-repeated and somewhat 

 plaintive tway, tway, Lway, generally 

 heard from the tops of trees, and the 

 latter sounds something like sit-sit-sit- 



sit-sit-see-eeeeeze. Each of the opening 

 notes of the song is uttered more rapidly 

 than that which preceded it, until they 

 develop into a kind of trill, rising in 

 pitch all the time, and finally ending in a 

 long shaky thin one. The bird fre- 

 quently sings on the wing whilst moving 

 from one bough or tree to another, and 

 may be found holding forth day after 

 day at the same spot when its mate is 

 sitting. The melody is accompanied by 

 a tremulous motion of the wings and 

 tail, suggesting that the vocalist is shaken 

 by the vigour of his efforts. 



It has been stated that the male 

 Wood Warbler does not sing after 

 the young ones have been hatched. 

 This is by no means the case, for I 

 have frequently heard him do so 

 immediately after feeding his offspring 

 in the nest. 



This species feeds upon insects, and is 

 said not to add berries or other kinds of 

 fruit to its dietary as is the case with 

 the chiffchaff and Willow Wren. 



