cxv. 



SYLVIA TllOCIlYLUS. (Lath.) 

 Willow Wren, Yellow Wren. 



Dear to me as arc each of the sweet birds of summer, 

 there is not one the return of which I have yearly witnessed 

 with so much pleasure; and however more highly the rich 

 melody of some of the other warblers may be prized, there is 

 a simplicity and a sweet cadence about the note of the Wil- 

 low Wren, which I prefer to all of them, and which never 

 fails to impart the most pleasurable sensations. It is a feeling 

 which none but the lover of nature can at all appreciate ; and, 

 however difficult for others to understand, I know that some 

 of the chief enjoyments of my life have emanated from these 

 " delightful visitants of spring :" and I feel a regard for each 

 of them, as the amusing companions of many a solitary walk. 

 The Willow Wren is one of the most abundant of the war- 

 blers, and almost every wood and copse is enlivened by its 

 beautiful form and graceful motions. 



" Thou fairy bird, how I love to trace 

 The rapid flight of thy tiny race ; 

 For the wild bee does not wave its wing 

 More lightly than thine, thou fairy thing." 



It is too an inhabitant of more northern countries ; and I 

 shall not readily forget the delight I experienced, on hearing 

 its soft sweet note whilst seated within the Arctic Circle, 

 upon one of the bleak isles of Norway. 



The Willow Wren builds its nest upon the ground, some- 

 times in the midst of woods when not very thick, but more 

 commonly near their margin, or in any grassy bank where 

 brushwood occurs. In shape it resembles that of the Common 

 Wren, being arched over, with the entrance at one side ; it is 

 however much more fragile, and not easily removed entire, 



