2 
WO 01)- WREN. 
Lushes. The countless varieties of small insect life that in their various stages infest vegetation appear 
to furnish the whole of the food of this useful and harmless species. Though frequently seen flitting through 
the hranches in close proximity to both Willow- Wrens and ChiffchafFs, the excessive brightness of their 
plumage renders it impossihle to confuse them with those birds. 
The nest of the Wood-Wren has come under my observation in many localities in both England and 
Scotland. In every instance it has been placed on the ground, or, at most, at an elevation of only a few 
inches. Owing to the etlect which much of the timber, beneath which this species places its nest, produces 
on vegetation, it is not unfrequently found in situations where the immediate cover is somewhat scanty. 
Though there are, of course, many exceptions, the Willow-AVren and Cliitfchaff for the most part conceal 
their nests with greater care, at times in x’ank grass with a small mouse-like track to the entrance. I have 
now and then come across the nest of a AYood-AAh*en built almost openly on the bare ground, merely sheltered 
by a few straggling tufts of herbage or some twining plant in which a few dead leaves have caught and 
lodged. If cautiously watched, the birds may now and then be detected dropping like stones from one of 
the overhanging branches to the immediate vicinity of the nest. 
The cradle itself is domed, with a side entrance, resembling, to a certain degree, the nests of the 
AA^illow-AVren and Chiffehatf. It is, however, seldom so elaborately worked up, the construction of the exterior 
being looser, and the lining of the interior, w'hich is devoid of feathers, being for the most part less finished. 
Tlie eggs, which are a shade larger than those of its relatives, are of a beautiful pinkish white ground, thickly 
marked with rieh warm brown spots. Like the eggs of all the family, they lose their beauty soon after 
incubation commences. Those seen in the cabinet of tlie collector bear also but a faint resemblance to the 
appearance tliey presented when fresh laid. 
