CAGE AND SINGING BIRDS. 
53 
both fresh and dry, soon becomes accustomed to the hemp- 
seed and bread or the imiversal paste, and appears less delicate 
than many other birds of its genus. In spring it may be best 
taken by means of limed twigs, baited with meal-worms ; in 
summer by the water-trap, and in autumn by nooses baited 
with blackberries, of which, in a wild state, it is very fond. 
One likely mode of capture, is a trap, in which a fine 
caterpillar has been placed, or a rose branch covered 
with aphides, a favourite food of the bird. It has been 
described as very tame in confinement, taking flies out of the 
hand of its master, drinking milk out of a spoon which 
he held, perching on his finger, and giving other tokens of 
confidence and affection ; it is fond of nestling up to the 
other birds for the sake of warmth, and its song is so 
loud and shrill that it may be heard above all the others ; it 
sings, too, the greater part of the year through. Mr. Sweet 
had a hen bird of the species which sang very frequently, 
but her strain was different from that of the male. 
In the plumage of this bird, which is sometimes called 
the hay bird, there is a tendency to green and yellow in the 
tints, which distinguish it from the hedge and bush war- 
blers, to which, in its markings and general conformation, 
it bears a considerable resemblance ; it also has the curious 
white patch on either cheek, which seems to be almost 
characteristic of one division of the warbler family. 
THE WOOD WARBLER, 
Or wood wren, as this species is frequently called, is a 
very beautiful bird, about five inches and a half long, of a 
slender and graceful shape. In the green tint of its plumage 
it resembles the willow warbler; but the markings are 
more distinct ; the edgings of the wings and tail-feathers are 
clearly defined ; the throat and neck, and sides of the head, 
are of a bright sulphur yellow ; and the breast and under 
part of the body of a pure white. The term elegant is 
the most appropriate that could be applied to this bird, 
which makes, perhaps, the shortest stay in this country 
of any of the warblers, arriving about the middle or end 
of April, and frequently leaving again by the end of 
August. Bechstein does not mention the bird ; but Sweet 
speaks of it as by no means uncommon here during the 
