THE WEEN. 851 



its very position, being generally fixed in tlie furcation of several 

 stout boughs, so that it can only be approached in certain parts. 

 Moreover, the great height at -which the Magpie loves to build the 

 nest renders the operation of robbing it so dangerous, that many a 

 nest escapes because no one has nerve enough to risk the ascent. 

 The position of the nest, too, conceals its true form so well, 

 that a very practiced eye is needed to distinguish it from an or- 

 dinary swelling of the bough, or from the heaps of dislodged 

 twigs which are so often found in the forked branches of trees. 

 Deserted nests are very common, and during my bird's-nesting 

 days I have frequently been disappointed to find that after all 

 the trouble of ascending a lofty tree, the nest was empty, and had 

 clearly been deserted for a year or two. Sometimes the nest is 

 occupied by other creatures, and in some parts of the country 

 the pine marten has been known to take possession of a deserted 

 Magpie's nest, and to lie therein quite unsuspected until driven 

 out by some accident. Although a lofty tree is mostly chosen by 

 the Magpie, such is not invariably the case, for now and then a 

 low tree, or even a bush, is selected. In any case, however, the 

 branches are sure to be thickly set, so that the nest may be firm- 

 ly held among the boughs. 



Another of our feathered dome-builders is the common "Ween 

 {Troglodytes vulgaris). The form and coloring of this bird are too 

 well known to need description, and we shall therefore pass at 

 once to its mode of nesting. 



The "Wren is rather peculiar in its method of constructing the 

 nest, for, though it can build a dome when there is need for it, 

 and generally does so, it does not always choose to take so much 

 trouble, but contents itself with an open nest arched over by a 

 natural dome. "Wherever it can find a convenient cavity, it will 

 make its nest therein, building either no dome at all, or one of 

 very flimsy construction, and such nests can generally be found in 

 the holes of ivy-covered walls, under eaves, or among the thickly- 

 growing branches of fir-trees. 



During the time when the Wren is building its nest, its loud, 

 cheerful voice is heard in full perfection, and so full and power- 

 ful are its tones that the tjny bird seems hardly able to produce 

 them. It is but. a short song, and is little varied, the bird repeat- 

 ing nearly the same melody time after time within a few minutes. 

 The long-drawn song of the nightingale, or the mellow notes of 



