500 



wooded localities ; and M. Favier does not record it as occurring near Tangier ; but Messrs. 

 Shelley and Buckley met with it on the Gold-coast. 



During several seasons I have spent a portion of the early summer in the districts near the 

 Rhine ; I always met with the present species, usually by no means uncommon. Mr. Carl Sachse, 

 of Altenkirchen, with whom I collected, has passed much time studying the habits of the birds 

 which inhabit that portion of Rhenish Prussia ; and I am indebted to him for some interesting 

 tield-notes on the present species. It arrives, he tells me, later than any of its allies, and leaves 

 earlier. The Chiffchaff arrives first, then the Willow- Wren ; and the present species does not 

 put in an appearance before late in April or early in May. In 1875 Mr. Sachse first observed it 

 on the 29th April. There it inhabits the non-evergreen woods, sometimes where conifers are 

 intermixed, but always where the trees are high ; and he tells me that he has never known it to 

 frequent conifer growth or the small groves in the open. Usually it is found in the large 

 beech-woods, where the foliage is so closely interwoven that scarce a sun-ray can penetrate 

 through the dense leafy roof, where the ground is but little covered with grass, but with larger 

 weeds &c, where much refuse in the way of old leaves is strewn about, and where the 

 ground is damp, but not wet. Here it frequents the tops of the trees or the scattered lower 

 branches, and may not unfrequently be met with searching after food on the ground. Its song 

 is uttered either whilst the bird is perched on one of the lower branches, or whilst it soars from 

 tree to tree. Its call-note is a low fuit; and its song, which is clear and sweet, consists of the 

 syllable chu or chit uttered four or five times in succession, and usually followed by a shivering 

 note which may be heard at a considerable distance. Its alarm-note does not differ from that 

 of the Willow-Wren. As a rule the Wood- Wren is a' shy, sprightly, and active bird, difficult of 

 approach, except during the breeding-season, when anxiety for its nest renders it less careful of 

 its personal security than at other seasons. I am also indebted to Mr. H. Seebohm for the 

 following notes, viz. : — " The Wood- Warbler is not so common as the Willow- Warbler in the 

 neighbourhood of Sheffield, but is much commoner than the Chiffchaff. It reaches our woods 

 and copses about a fortnight later than the two last-named birds, its interesting song being 

 rarely heard until after the middle of April. The song so aptly called by Gilbert White the 

 ' shivering ' notes of the Wood- Warbler, when once heard can never be forgotten. It com- 

 mences for the first note or two somewhat like that of the Willow- Warbler, but rapidly increases 

 in speed, finally running into a trillo. One might attempt to express it on paper thus — chit, 

 chit, chit, chit, chitr-tr-tr-tr-tr-tr-tre. The Wood- Warbler has a very loud and plantive call-note, 

 constantly repeated in early spring, like dee'-ur, dee'-ur, dee'-ur. Its alarm-note, generally uttered 

 when you are too near the nest, differs little, if any, from the alarm-notes of the Willow- Wren 

 and Chiffchaff — a low and somewhat plaintive hoo-it or whit. This bird is not quite so restless as 

 the other two British Phylloscopi ; nor is it so timid, allowing a nearer approach without taking 

 wing. I have frequently seen these birds catching flies on the wing, like the Spotted Flycatcher; 

 but they do not take such long flights, nor seem in any way compelled, like that bird, to return 

 back to the same twig. The song is often commenced on the wing, a few moments before 

 alighting ; and during the final trillo the wings and tail, if not the whole body, of the bird 

 vibrate with the exertion. Both the song and call-note are common to the male and female." 



The food of the Wood- Wren consists chiefly, if not entirely, of insects and their larvae, 



