This is another little favourite songster, and a most deserving one it is. It visits us the latter end of March, or beginning of April, and leaves us again at the end of September, or beginning of October. On its first arrival, it enlivens our woods and groves with its lively piercing song and gay frolics, flying about from tree to tree, and catching the small gnats and flies that come in its way. It builds its nest on the ground in a thicket amongst dead leaves and moss, with a covering on the top, of the same materials as those lying all around, so that it is impossible to find it without watching one of the old ones to the nest, which in general consists of six or seven young ones. These may either be brought up from the nest, or if an old one be caught wild it is easily tamed. When first put in the cage with a tame bird, the general food, bread and milk, and eggs, should be stuck full of small flies, aphides, small caterpillars, or other small insects, in picking out which it will taste the other food, and soon take to eat it readily, and will soon become very tame in confinement. One that I caught in September was, in three days afterwards, let out of the aviary into the room to catch the flies, that were numerous at that season. After amusing itself for some time in catching flies, it began singing; and it did the same several other times when it was let out, and in a few days began to sing in its aviary. It soon became so familiar, that it would take flies out of the hand; and when out in the room, if a fly was held towards it, would fly up, and take it immediately.
Although the present species is so small a bird, it is very courageous, being generally the master of the cage, and as it is so fine a songster, and almost continually in song, no little bird can be more desirable in a cage with other birds; its note, when in full song, being so loud and shrill, that its voice is plainly heard above the nightingale’s when both are in full song.
THE WOOD WREN.
Sylvia sibilatrix, Bechstein; Le Bec-fin Siffleur, Temminck; Der grüne Sanger, Meyer.
This bird remained long unnoticed as a distinct species, from its resemblance to the hay-bird (Sylvia Trochilus), with which it is still frequently confounded. It measures in length five inches and a half; bill horn-colour; upper mandible bent at the tip, and rather longer than the under; irides hazel; nostrils beset with bristles; top of the head, neck, back, and tail-coverts olive green; throat and cheeks yellow, paler on the breast; belly and vent of a most beautiful silvery white; through the eye passes a yellow line; legs rather more than an inch long, of a horn-colour, claws paler.
MR. SWEET’T ACCOUNT OF THE WOOD WREN.
This elegant and beautiful little species ranks itself amongst my list of favourites. It visits this country the beginning of April, and leaves it in August, or the beginning of September. It is generally to be found in summer amongst tall trees in woods and plantations, where it is readily detected on its arrival, by a shrill shaking sort of note that may be heard at a great distance, and cannot be confounded with any other bird. On its first arrival it sings the greater part of the day, and continues its song, more or less, through the summer, except at the time it is engaged in feeding its young. Its nest is built on the ground in a thicket amongst moss and dead leaves, so that it is impossible to find it without watching one of the old ones to the nest, which is easily done when they have young. They may either be tamed when old, or reared from the nest, and are not difficult to be caught when young with a little bird-lime at the end of a fishing-rod, as may several other species of this interesting group.
As the present species feeds entirely upon insects when wild, the greater part of which it catches on the wing, it will be useless to give it any sort of fruit or berry; but bread and milk, bruised hemp-seed and bread, with bits of fresh lean meat cut very small and mixed up in it, will be its general food. It is also very fond of the yolk of an egg boiled hard, and crumbled small, or stirred up with the point of a knife that it may peck it out of the shell as it likes. Sometimes these birds are apt to get off their other food, and will live on egg several days; at such a time if a few flies could be procured for them, it would be the most likely to restore their appetite.