The Wren. 



Pcirliing Birds. 



case of the Gold-Crest. As in the Dippers, 

 which are also allied to the true Wrens, there 

 are no rictal bristles at the base of the bill, as 

 in the Thrushes and Warblers. They have 

 too a remarkably rounded wing, which fits to 

 the form of the body, and resembles that of 

 the Bush-babblers (Tiiiieliidce). For the size of 

 the bird, the volume of song which the Wren 

 pours out is e.xtraordinary. It is generally 

 an inhabitant of dense hedges and under- 

 growth, and is not often seen at any height in 

 the trees. The tail is often carried at right 

 angles to the back. The nest is a large one, 

 composed principally of moss and leaves, and 

 is placed in the stems of ivy against a large 

 elm tree, or in the trellis-work of a summer-house or garden-building, and in all 

 sorts of queer places. The eggs are four or si.x in number, sometimes nine. They 

 are white with reddish-brown spots and tiny dots of the same colour. 



The Wrens which inhabit the outlying islands of Scotland 

 appear to be somewhat larger than those of the mainland. 

 Thus birds from the Shetlands are bigger than the ordinar}' 

 run of British individuals, and this is especially the case 

 with the S. Kilda Wrens, which e.xceed A. troglodytes in size and approach the 

 larger Wren of the Faroes A . borealis). The absence of trees on S. Kilda makes 

 this Wren an inhabitant of the rocks, and it may be this rougher mode of 

 life which has developed its more robust form and stronger legs. It sings as 

 vigorously as the Common Wren, and builds a similar kind of nest, which it places 

 in the holes of walls or under the shelter of a bush. The eggs are like those of 

 A. troglodytes, but are larger and more boldly marked. 



This is a tropical family of birds, plentifully represented 

 in Africa, India and China, but not a Palasarctic group at all. 

 In fact the only species which comes within European limits 

 is the Dusky Bulbul {Pycnonotus barhatiis) which is found 

 in North-western Africa (Algeria and Marocco). If any Bulbul occurred in Great 

 Britain, it might have been e.xpected to be this species, whose habitat is the neaiest 

 to our shores, but the so-called ' Gold-vented Thrush ' of the old British Lists is 

 Pycnonotus capensis (see page 67), a species confined to the Cape Colony and not 

 in any degree migratory. The specimen said to have been shot near Waterford, in 

 January, 1848, by Dr. Burkitt must have been therefore an escaped individual. 

 It is a brown bird with yellow under tail-coverts, and is one of the species which 

 should be expunged from the list of British Birds. 



6- 



THE S. KILDA 



WREN. 



[Anoythura hirtensis.) 



THE BULBULS. 



Family 

 PYCNONOTIDM. 



