20 ANORTHURA TROGLODYTES. 



which he heeds not, but seizing a feather of his rival's neck, 

 descends in safety to the ground, to receive the prize to be im- 

 partially adjudged by the astonished conclave. The moral of 

 the fable is, that cunning may suj^ply the lack of power. 



I knovv' not a more pleasant object to look at than the Wren . 

 it is always so smart and cheerful. In gloomy weather, other 

 birds often seem melancholy, and in rain the Sparrows and 

 Finches stand silent on the twigs with drooping wings and 

 clotted plumage ; but to the Wren all weathers are alike. 

 The big drops of the thunder-shower no more wet it than the 

 drizzle of a Scotch mist ; and as it peeps from beneath the 

 bramble, or glances from a hole in the wall, it seems as snug 

 as a kitten frisking on the parlour rug. 



It is amusing to watch the motions of a young family of 

 Wrens just come abroad. Walking among furze, or broom, 

 or juniper, you are attracted to some bush by hearing issue 

 from it a lively and frequent repetition of a sound which most 

 resembles the syllable chit. On going up you perceive an old 

 wren flitting about the twigs, and presently a young one flies 

 off", uttering a stifled chirr, to conceal itself among the bushes. 

 Several follow in succession, while the parents continue to flut- 

 ter about, in great alarm, uttering their loud chit, chit, chit, 

 with indications of varied degrees of excitement. On open 

 ground a young Wren might easily be run down, and I have 

 heard it asserted that an old one may soon be tired out in time ' 

 of snow, when it cannot easily conceal itself. And yet, even 

 in such a case, it is by no means easy to keep it in sight, for 

 on the side of a bank, or by a wall, or in a thicket, it will find 

 a hole where one least expected it, and, creeping in some crevice 

 beneath the snow, re-appear at a considerable distance. 



The food of birds can be determined only by opening their 

 crops and stomachs, or by observation directed to living indi- 

 viduals, the former method however being the only sure one. 

 The wrens which I have opened generally contained remains 

 of insects of various kinds, with larva% and sometimes pupge ; 

 but I have also found in them seeds, and Mr Neville Wood 

 states that they sometimes eat red currants. In the stomach 

 of an individual examined in December 1830, I found " many 



