WREN. 163 



habits, and the general resemblance in the colours of the 

 plumage of certain species, limited in numbers, but distri- 

 buted over Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, have induced 

 modern ornithologists to adopt the genus Troglodytes, first 

 proposed for them by Baron Cuvier ; and M. Temminck, as 

 will be seen by the quotation from his Supplement, coincides 

 in the propriety of this view. 



Among our small birds there is scarcely one that is better 

 known, or more secure by privilege, than the little Wren ; 

 frequenting gardens close to our houses, and occasionally 

 taking shelter in out-buildings, its confidence, like that of the 

 Robin, appears to have induced and insured its protection. 

 It creeps mouse-like from our sight through hedges and un- 

 derwood, occasionally only taking wing for a short distance, 

 and again disappears from our view. This little bird sings 

 throughout the greater part of the year with a shrill and 

 lively strain, and even 



" When icicles hang dripping from the rock, 

 Pipes his perennial lay ;" 



enduring a frosty winter's night by uniting and roosting in 

 company in some sheltered hole of a wall or under thatch. 

 Sir William Jardine and Mr. Selby both mention the cir- 

 cumstance of several of these diminutive birds passing the 

 night together in the same aperture ; and the Hon. W. Her- 

 bert says that in severe weather they frequently roost in cow- 

 houses, where the confined cattle keep them warm. 



The Wren begins to make a nest early in spring, and 

 sometimes fixes it under the thatch of a building, against the 

 side of a moss-covered tree, or close to an impending bank 

 that secures it from the rain ; but what is remarkable, says 

 Montagu, " the materials of the nest are generally adapted 

 to the place : if built against the side of a hayrick, it is 

 composed of hay ; if against the side of a tree covered with 



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