HERBERT ON BIRDS. 



93 



I could not persuade my gardener that the yellow wrens did not eat the cherries, till 

 he had shot some of the petty chaps in the act of eating them, and compared them 

 with the wrens, when he became satisfied of the error. In order to ascertain beyond 

 doubt, whether the yellow wrens ever eat fruit, I left some which had been reared tame 

 from the nest, and, of course, were more likely to feed upon any new thing than the 

 wild birds, without victuals till they were very hungry, and I then offered them little 

 bits of ripe cherry. They seized them with avidity, but immediately threw them down 

 again, and it was evident they would rather have starved than eat the fruit. I had no 

 doubt of the fact, but I wished-to set the question completely at rest ; for I have seen 

 them pulling the leaves off the cherry trees so near the fruit, that any person might be 

 deceived, and think they were eating it ; and the young of the petty chaps look so 

 like them, that I am not in the least surprised at their having got into bad repute with 

 the gardeners. I had an opportunity of watching, lately, a little family of them, 

 which sat many days in a low standard cherry tree in my garden, not more than a few 

 feet above my head. The old ones took no notice of me at all, but were perpetually 

 feeding close to me. They flitted about the cherry tree, -picking the little aphides off 

 the leaves, and bringing them one by one to the young, and sometimes tugging very 

 hard at a leaf to get out a little caterpillar that was twisted up in it, the cherries being 

 ripe at the time. The young sat still for hours together, close to each other, occasion- 

 ally stretching their legs or wings, or hunching up their hind quarters. This very 

 singular movement is, I think, peculiar to, or at least it is more usual amongst soft- 

 billed birds. It is a sign of health, and is frequent with growing young birds. I do 

 not observe those which feed upon seed use it, though they frequently stretch their 

 leg or wing. The young sedge warblers hunch up their hind quarters to a degree that 

 is singularly ludicrous, and when they do so, they are always thriving. The yellow 

 wrens appear in confinement to have stronger powers of digestion than the wood wrens, 

 though, I believe, they feed naturally upon similar insects. The hens are singularly 

 tame. I had one taken when able to feed itself, what the bird-catchers caU abrancher, 

 which soon became so familiar that it would fly upon my finger to feed. The cocks 

 are larger, and rather more shy. Last year I had reared three cocks from the nest, and 

 in July I wished to set one of them at liberty. Having let it out of the cage that stood 

 near a window which was opened, it continued for a long time hopping and flying 

 about the top of the cage, and sitting upon the pots upon the ledge, and on a bar to 

 which the roses were tied across the window. At last it began to travel up the 

 creepers, against the house, and getting upon the roof, it flew over the buildings, and 

 I did not expect to see it again ; but, two hours after, it returned exceedingly hungry, 

 and lit upon the upper bar of the middle pane of the lower sash of the same window, 

 and pecked hard for admittance. It was let in and fed heartily from my hand, after 

 which it took its leave. I saw no more of it for two days, when it returned again for 

 a short visit, in very good case, and not appearing at all pressed for food. About 

 a week after, it returned to the very same pane of glass, pecking as before, but I was 

 occupied with a stranger on business, and could not attend to it, and it departed for 

 the season. On the 23rd of July, in the following summer, I was standing at the 

 window, when a fine stout cock of this species lit upon the bar of the same pane, close 

 to my face, and began to peck, as before, for admission. Neither alarmed by my 

 voice, nor by my little boy's jumping up from his seat to look at it, it flew 

 down upon some of the cage pans, which happened to be on the ledge of the 

 window, and began pecking them as if to get food from them. It quickly departed 

 again ; but this is so contrary to the habits of the wild bird, that I consider it 



