204 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds 



describes uncommonly well thus : "The song begins hurriedly, and 

 ends very slowly; it seems to express Dididide, deay, deay, duay, 

 duay, duay, deay, deay, duay, deda, deda, daa, da ! " This bird is 

 one out of eight or nine species that has killed itself against the 

 plate-glass of my dining-room window, which seems a regular bird- 

 trap. Within the last three years the following species have thus 

 immolated themselves thereon : Willow Wren, hen Black Cap, a 

 pair of Greenfinches, Big Tom Tit, various Thrushes, Blackbird, 

 and, besides others, a fine adult male Sparrow Hawk, which I have 

 now in my collection. 



Sylvia Sihilatrix. " The Wood Wren/'' As far as I know, not 

 common in our district, but it is a bird that may very easily be 

 overlooked, and, if seen, not certainly recognised. I have never 

 come across it myself, so as to verify it. But Mr. Baker tells me 

 that it is to be found in the Mere district, and at Stourton, from 

 whence he obtained some good specimens for his collection ; while 

 King, of Warminster, informs me they are to be found also in his 

 neighbourhood in likely places, such as Southley Wood. This bird,, 

 like the last, builds its nest upon the ground, and its eggs are not 

 easy to find, the eggs of the last species often being mistaken for 

 the Wood Wrens. In two collections last summer I was shown 

 eggs of the Willow Wren as being those of this species, but they 

 are so different from each other that they ought not to be confounded 

 together. The egg of the Wood Wren being thickly peppered all 

 over with dark bluish-grey spots, while that of the Willow Wren 

 is covered with light red spots on a whitish ground. 



Sylvia Auricapilla. " Golden Crested Wren/'' Common. I see 

 some every year in my own garden, from which I should be very 

 sorry to miss them. Very tame and confiding. 



Sylvia Ignicapilla. " Fire Crested Wren." On October 24th, 

 1877, a nice specimen of this little bird was brought to Hart by 

 some boys, amongst a good many other small birds that they had 

 killed. I saw it in his collection, and on enquiry he told me the 

 history of it. He has had two others of the same species also 

 brought to him before, in the same way, but they are by no means 

 commonly met with. It seems most frequently to be found in the 



