THE MELODIOUS WILLOW WARBLER. 
687 
cotton from the willow and the poplar, hair, fibres of tow, 
and such-like substances. The eggs, four or five in 
number, are laid in June: they are tender in the shell, 
and of a pale rose reddish colour, spotted with small and 
larger black spots; they are hatched in thirteen days, 
both parents incubating. The young remain in the nest 
until they are as large as the old birds, and are fed by the 
latter with the most delicate insects. In localities where 
the Melodious Willow Warbler* is accustomed to man’s 
presence it does not show the slightest shyness, allowing 
him to pass to and fro under the nest without taking 
any notice of him; in other cases it utters an anxious 
cry if the nest be approached. 
These pretty birds have, unfortunately, numerous 
enemies. Their brood is persecuted by martens, field- 
mice, Magpies, and Jays; the Butcher-birds take the 
young from the nest, and they are but too often killed by 
Hawks. They are easily shot, but are trapped or netted 
with difficulty, for they will move nooses, lime-twigs, and 
the like, with the greatest cleverness,—from the neigh¬ 
bourhood of the nest even,—-without being taken. 
* In other parts of this work, where the term Garden Warbler is used, the 
Melodious Willow Warbler is most probably the species indicated.— W. J. 
