258 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE.

bling the common wren in many of his habits, if not indeed
identical with it.

Wilson says, “in the month of June a mower hung un his
coat, under a shed, near the barn, and two or three days
elapsed before he had occasion to put it on again, when
thrusting his arm up the sleeve, he found it completely filled
with some rubbish, as he called it, and on extracting the
whole mass, found it to be the nest of a wren completely
finished, and lined with a large quantity of feathers. In his
retreat, he was followed by the forlorn little proprietors, who
scolded him with great vehemence for thus ruining the whole
economy of their household affairs.” Wilson also tells a
very pretty story of a pair of wrens who built their nest
upon a window sill, one of whom, the female, venturing to
enter the room was devoured by a cat. The male bird
showed much uneasiness when he missed his mate, but
after a time disappeared for two days, returning with a new
wife, and with her help removing the two eggs left by her
predecessor to a new nest in a more secure position.

The The Nightingale and the Sky-Lark, may perhaps
Nightingale. he said to divide honours in the sphere of feathered
song. Both have entranced innumerable auditors and both
have won noble tributes from poets’ pens, Both, moreover,
are plain birds. The nightingale is of a tawny colour on the
head and back, and of a greyish white on the throat and
under parts. It has a full large eye of great brightness. It
is one of the largest of the song birds, measuring seven inches
in length. The nightingale is found in Yorkshire but not in
Lancashire, also in Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Dorsetshire, Somer-
setshire and East Devonshire, but not in Cornwall. It belongs
to France, Germany, Poland, Italy, and Palestine.

"he "The Nightingale’s song,” says the author of
Wighingale’s “ Tales of Animals,” unites strength and sweetness,

Song. in a most wonderful degree, as its notes may be
heard on a calm evening at the distance of half a mile.