122 NOTES ON THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 



composed principally of mosses and lichens, lined 

 with, soft feathers, hair, wool, and, in one instance 

 that has come under my notice, a quantity of silk 

 from the cocoons of the great tiger moth (Arctia 

 caja) were woven into the fabric. 



A nest noticed by me in the garden of St. Peter's 

 College, and in which the young were safely reared, 

 was lined with the hair of the fallow-deer, of which 

 a herd are ke^)t in a small park belonging to the 

 college. This nest was built in a spruce fir, and 

 my attention was first attracted to it by the attacks 

 made by the male goldcrest on other small birds, 

 such as linnets or greenfinches, which might 

 approach the tree on which he and his partner had 

 established their domicile. 



In this case the eggs were seven in number, and 

 the young were hatched on the 28th of April- 

 They were fed constantly by the old birds, which 

 manifested extreme anxiety if the nest was 

 approached. 



The young became fledged very rapidly, but 

 differed from the parents in having no yellow crest, 

 the crown of the head being light brown, with two 

 lateral bands of greyish -black. The first plumage 

 is changed in the autumn, but the young birds do 

 not assume their full colours till the ensuing 

 spring. 



