WILLOW WREN. 
137 
I/VS ESSO RES. s YL VIA DJE. 
DENT1R0STRES. 
% 
WILLOW WREN, 
WILLOW WARBLER. 
Sylvia trochilus. 
PLATE XXXVI. PIGS. I. AND II. 
Much as I love all the dear birds of summer, there 
is not one the return of which I have yearly witnessed 
with so much pleasure as that of the Willow Wren; 
and however more highly the rich melody of some of 
the other warblers may he prized, there is a simplicity 
and a sweet cadence about the note of this species, 
which never fails to excite within me feelings of pleasure, 
which none but the lover of nature can either appre¬ 
ciate or understand, but which are to him amongst the 
chief enjoyments of his life. 
The Willow Wren is one of the most abundant of 
the warblers, and almost every wood and copse is en¬ 
livened by its beautiful form and graceful motions: 
“ Thou fairy bird, how I love to trace 
The rapid flight of thy tiny race ! 
For the wild bee does not wave its wing 
More lightly than thine, thou fairy thing!” 
It is, too, an inhabitant of more northern countries; 
and I shall not readily forget the delight I experienced 
on hearing its soft sweet note, whilst seated within the 
Arctic Circle upon one of the bleak isles of Norway. 
The Willow Wren builds its nest upon the ground, 
sometimes in the midst of woods when not thick, but 
more commonly near their margin, or in open places, 
