Mar., 1889. 
IN SHERWOOD FOREST. 
55 
situations I have met with it in Warwickshire and Devon¬ 
shire, but nowhere in such plenty as in one locality along the 
banks of the Thames in South Oxfordshire, and in Notting¬ 
hamshire in those great woods which now cover a part of the 
district which was formerly the noted Sherwood Forest. 
Here under the able tutorage of a resident friend (a well 
known field-naturalist, who has paid especial attention to this 
species), I first became well acquainted with the interesting 
and peculiar habits of these delicate little birds. 
The woods are for the most part composed of oak of 
various ages, interspersed in places with remarkably fine larch 
and with plantations of Spanish chestnut. Where the timber 
is of older growth the wood is rather open, and here the 
ground underfoot is less deeply covered with dead leaves than 
m the thicker portions, and the bracken and bilberry grow, 
while little open glades here and there are clothed with 
heather and bracken. On the edges we have hollies and 
rowans, and the ground in spring is blue with wild hyacinths. 
On entering the wood in the breeding season one soon 
hears the sibilant song of the male Wood Wren, and presently 
we catch sight of him flitting about the tops of the leafy oaks, 
pausing every minute to run through his simple and very 
remarkable song with shivering wings. Now he utters his 
call note, twee twee twee , as he sidles along a branch, or flutters 
in the air for a moment to catch a passing gnat or snatch 
some tiny insect from an oak leaf just out of reach, then he 
sings again. If it is late enough in spring for the Wood 
Wren to have eggs, and you notice the male very loth to leave 
a certain spot, constantly returning to the same tree, you 
may be pretty sure that somewhere at or near the foot of it 
his mate is sitting on her nest. Should she come off* to feed 
or be frightened off, you will be instantly apprised of the fact 
by her deep plaintive single call note, wee-eep , totally distinct 
from that of the male. The Wood Wren is a late breeder, 
not having eggs in these woods in the first days of June, 1887, 
nor even nesting there at the end of May in the following- 
year, though two or three days later I saw a nest containing 
seven eggs in South Oxon. In Sherwood the nest is placed 
upon the ground, among the dead leaves and bracken; in 
younger woods, where the trenching remains, it is often on 
the side of one of the little banks thus formed. It is wonder¬ 
fully well hidden, and the hen bird seems well aware of this, 
for unless you happen to walk right on to the nest she will 
not fly off until you have passed it. The finding of Wood 
Wrens’ nests in these woods is, therefore, rather an art, and 
the following plan for doing so was detailed to me. 
