110 
THE WILLOW WREN. 
mit of some bush, utters its brief modulation, and seeks 
retirement again. Its chief habitation is some hedge in 
the rick-yard, some cottage garden, or near society with 
man. Unobtrusive, it does not enter our dwellings like 
the redbreast, but picks minute insects from the edges 
of drains and ditches, or morsels from the door of the 
poorest dwelling in the village. As an example of a 
household or domestic bird, none can be found with 
better pretensions to such a character than the hedge- 
sparrow. 
I always hear with delight the earliest chirpings of 
that pretty harbinger of spring, the willow wren (mo- 
tacilla trochillus), trilling its wild and gleeful “ chiff 
chaffs,” as it chases the insects round the branches of 
the old oak in the copse, or on the yellow catkins of 
the sallow, itself almost like a colored catkin too. But 
this elegant little bird is noticed only by the lovers and 
frequenters of the country ; it animates the woods by 
its constant activity ; the frequent repetition of its most, 
cheerful modulation contributes essentially to the pleas- 
ing harmony of the grove ; and its voice is most sprightly 
and frequent, when the morning is illumined with one 
of those mild, walk-enticing gleams, that render this 
short season the most delightful of our year. It builds 
its nest, and rears its young with us ; visits our gardens, 
but is no plunderer there, living almost entirely upon 
insect food ; and its whole life is passed in harmlessness 
and innocence. As it is the earliest that arrives, so it 
is the last, I believe, of our feathered choir that leaves 
us, except a few lingering, irresolute swallows ; and we 
hear it piping its final autumnal farewell even in Octo- 
ber at times, and sporting with hilarity and joy, when 
all its congeners are departed. 
It is a difficult matter satisfactorily to comprehend 
the object of this bird in quitting another region, and 
passing into our island. The chief motives for migra- 
tion seem to be food, a milder climate, and quiet during 
the period of incubation and rearing their young : but 
the willow wren, and some others of our insectivorous 
birds, appear to have other purposes to accomplish by 
their annual migrations. These little creatures, the 
