258 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



bling the common wren in many of his habits, if not indeed 

 identical with it. 



Wilson says, " in the month of June a mower hung up his 

 coat, under a shed, near the bam, and two or three days 

 elapsed before he had occasion to put it on again, when 

 thrusting his arm up the sleeve, he found it completely filled 

 with some rubbish, as he called it, and on extracting the 

 whole mass, found it to be the nest of a wren completely 

 finished, and lined with a large quantity of feathers. In his 

 retreat, he was followed by the forlorn little proprietors, who 

 scolded him with great vehemence for thus ruining the whole 

 economy of their household afiaiis." Wilson also tells a 

 very pretty story of a pair of wrens who built their nest 

 upon a window sill, one of whom, the female, venturing to 

 enter the room was devoured by a cat. The male bird 

 showed much uneasiness when he missed his mate, but 

 after a time disappeared for two days, returning with a new 

 wife, and with her help removing the two eggs left by her 

 predecessor to a new nest in a more secure position. 



The The Nightingale and the Sky-Lark, may perhaps 



iTlghtingale. be said to divide honours in the sphere of feathered 

 song. Both have entranced innumerable auditors and both 

 have won noble tributes from poets' pens. Both, moreover, 

 are plain birds. The nightingale is of a tawny colour on the 

 head and back, and of a greyish white on the throat and 

 under parts. It has a full large eye of great brightness. It 

 is one of the largest of the song birds, measuring seven inches 

 in length. The nightingale is found in Yorkshire but not in 

 Lancashire, also in Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Dorsetshire, Somer- 

 setshire and East Devonshire, but not in Cornwall. It belongs 

 to France, Germany, Poland, Italy, and Palestine. 



rpiia "The Nightingale's song," says the author of 



Nighingaie's "Tales of Animals," unites strength and sweetness. 



Song. jj^ ^ most wonderful degree, as its notes may be 

 heard on a calm evening at the distance of half a mile. 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



