HAY-BIRD. 



243 



is the Chouette or Grande Cheveche, of BufTon, and perhaps has been 

 noticed by other authors ; but from the circumstance of the ears not 

 being- mentioned, which is not discoverable in a dead specimen, con- 

 fusion has arisen. 



Mr. Anstice says that a few years since, mice were in such vast abun- 

 dance in the neighbourhood of Bridgewater, as to destroy a large portion 

 of vegetation; and in the autumn a great many Hawk Owls resorted 

 to the place in order to prey on them. They were found in the fields, 

 amongst the high grass. 



We never observed it so far west as Devonshire, till the year 1809, 

 when we procured two specimens about the middle of November. In 

 the stomach of one of these were the fragments of a skylark and a 

 yellow-hammer. 



HAY-BIRD {Sylvia trochilus, Latham.) 



* Sylvia trochilus, Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. p. 550. sp. 15. 5. — Motacilla trochilus, Linn. 

 Syst. 1. p. 338. 49.—Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 995. sp. 49.— Asilus, Briss. Orn. 3. p. 



479. 45.— Rati, Syn. p. 80. A. 10 Will. p. 164.— Motacilla acredula, Linn. 



Syst. 1. p. 338. 49. B. — Sylvia fitis, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. 3. p. 643— Le 

 Pouillot ou le Chantre, Buff. Ois. 5. p. 344.-I6.pl. Enl. 651. f. 1.— Le Figuier 

 brun et jaune, Buff. Ois. 5. p. 295. — Bee- fin Pouillot, Temm. Man. d'Orn. 1. p. 

 224.— Fitis Sanger, Meyer, Tasschenb. Deut. 1. p. 248.— Frisch, t. 24. f. 1. — 



Yellow Wren, Br. Zool. 1. No. 151.— Arct. Zool. 2. No. 319 White's Hist. 



Selb. 28. 55.— Lath. Syn. 4. p. 512. 147.— Ib. Supp. 2. p. 238 Mont. Orn. 



Diet — Ib. Supp. — Lewin's Br. Birds, 3. t. 113 Pult. Cat. Dorset, p. 9. — Don. 



Br. Birds, 1. t. 14.— Scotch Wren, Br. Zool. 2. No. 152 Arct. Zool. 2. p. 



420 Lath. Syn. 4. p. 513 Willow Wren, Bewick's Br. Birds, 1. p. 222 



Selby, pi. 47. fig. 3. p. 189.* 



Provincial. — Ground Wren. Ground Huckmuck. 



This species weighs about two drams and three quarters ; length 



five inches and a quarter. The bill is dusky above, yellowish beneath ; 



irides hazel. The whole upper parts of the plumage are of a greenish 



yellow-brown ; the under parts are white, tinged with yellow ; on the 



breast are a few yellow streaks ; quills dusky brown, edged with 



yellow ; coverts yellow, thighs the same ; tail like the quills, slightly 



edged the same ; over the eye a faint yellowish stroke ; legs light 



brown. 



This is a plentiful species in some parts. Frequents wooded and 

 enclosed situations, especially where willows abound. Is frequently 

 found with the wood wren, but does not extend so far to the west in 

 England, as it is rarely met with in Cornwall. It comes to us early 

 in April, and soon begins its usual song, which is short, with little 

 variety. About the latter end of the same month, or beginning of 

 May, it makes a nest of an oval shape, with a small opening near the 

 top, composed of moss and dried grass, and lined with feathers. This is 

 placed in the hollow of a ditch, or in a low bush close to the ground. 



r 2 



