i°2 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. 



Warbler sprang over his back and snatched it from my fingers ; it had become 

 perfectly tame in thirty-six hours. I mentioned this fact to Dr. Gtinther who 

 assured me that, such being the case, he was certain (from his own experience) 

 the bird would die in a day or two : he could not explain why it was so, but it 

 was an invariable rule that, if Warblers became suddenly tame soon after capture, 

 they never lived long. The following morning my Willow- Wren was sitting ruffled 

 up with its head under its wing ; but, after swallowing two caterpillars and two 

 house-flies, it appeared to recover its spirits and became as lively as at first. In 

 the afternoon my son offered it a fly, putting his hand into the cage and holding 

 the insect between his finger and thumb : the little bird flew down upon his hand 

 and took it, then hopped round pecking at his fingers. Half an hour later it 

 was found lying dead on the draw-tray of the cage. 



In July, 1889, I trapped two Willow- Wrens in my garden and turned them 

 loose in an aviary sixteen feet long ; there they seemed happy enough catching 

 flies and spiders ; but they did not seem to understand the soft food, although they 

 must have seen other birds eating it : consequently they soon sickened and died : 

 since then I have not attempted to catch any others. 



There is no doubt that, in order to get these little birds to eat the soft food, 

 the best plan would be to cage them up at first, giving them two food pans, one 

 half filled with small mealworms and filled up with the food, so that it would be 

 impossible for them to eat the living food without tasting the other ; the second 

 pan with soft food only, which they would be certain to peck over in search 

 for more insect larvae. The only alternative, and a risky and trying one at 

 best, would be to rear your Warblers from the nest ; but then, in all probability, 

 they would never sing. 



