688 
BIRD-LIFE. 
Midsummer, and is silent also when assisting his spouse 
in the duties of incubation. 
The Melodious Willow Warbler is very difficult to keep 
in captivity, for it is tender in the extreme, more so, 
perhaps, than any other species. Much pains has been 
taken to try and tame this bird, but it has rarely been 
brought so far as to take kindly to cage-food, and even 
when this point has been gained it seldom lives very 
long. The most trifling accident will kill it,—such as 
cold, want of attention, stale food, &c., — added to which 
it will beat itself to death, when first caught, if its wings 
are not tied. 
In its natural state the Melodious Willow Warbler 
feeds on all sorts of winged insects, as gnats, flies, moths, 
and also spiders : most of these are generally taken on the 
wing, though it will also pick them off leaves, and destroy 
numberless plant-lice. When cherries are ripe it will eat 
a few, and at that season frequents cherry-trees with great 
assiduity; it has a relish for currants, nor does it despise 
other berries. In captivity it must be fed with ants’-eggs 
and meal-worms, until it becomes gradually accustomed 
to ordinary Nightingale’s food. 
The Melodious Willow Warbler breeds in gardens, espe¬ 
cially in overgrown orchards. The nest is found in bushes 
of average height, rarely on the tops of high trees, like 
that of its southern representative; it is never very much 
hidden from sight, though usually placed amongst the 
thick leaves; it is generally placed in the fork of a branch, 
or at all events interwoven with other twigs. The nest is 
one of the prettiest we have : it is almost always spherical, 
and exceedingly neatly constructed; the materials are 
tender dead grass-stalks and leaves, cocoons, caterpillars 
and spiders’-webs, small pieces of paper, birch-bark, 
