88 Thk Fire-Crested Wren. 



but it eats a few seeds and small berries: in captivit}' insectivorous food and bread- 

 crumbs moistened, also boiled potato, cooked the previous day, and finely chopped 

 up with yolk of egg, would form a good staple diet ; small mealworms, ants' 

 larvae, small caterpillars, flies, and spiders being given when procurable. 



Although sometimes kept in quite small cages, this bird, to be properly 

 studied, should be turned loose in a moderately large aviary, planted with firs 

 and 3'ews; or at an}' rate with a few pot specimens of these trees standing about; 

 but whetlier it be kept in cage or aviary, a snugly lined box should be hung up 

 in one corner to which it may retire for warmth at night ; for, although the 

 Gold-crest is undoubtedly a hardy bird like the Tits, captivity at best deprives 

 it of much of the free exercise which it takes throughout the day when at 

 liberty ; this, in conjunction with somewhat unnatural diet, less pure air, and the 

 lack of companionship of an}' of its own species, doubtless tend to weaken and 

 undermine the constitution of this feathered mite. 



In my opinion a bird which is never seen singly, but at the very least in 

 pairs, should not be caged by itself; solitary confinement may not be objectionable 

 to a parrot; but to a species which, when not breeding, is seen in family parties, 

 small companies, or even in countless myriads, solitary confinement must be in the 

 highest degree irksome: an aviary about eight feet square, devoted to a score or so 

 of these fairy-like little birds, would be " a thing of beauty and a joy for ever." 



Family— TURDID^. Subfamily— S YL VI I N^. 



The Fire-Crested Wren. 



Regulus ignicapi/liis, C. L- BrKHM. 



NOT infrequent straggler to the British Isles, the Fire-crest may fully claim 

 its title to a place in these pages. Of its geographical distribution 

 Howard Saunders writes : — " The Fire-crested Wren has a much less 



A 



