WREN. 



115 



even under the eaves of houses. It braves the seve- 

 rest winters, and, like the golden-crowned wren, rs 

 resident even in Zetland. It sings sweetly in spring. 

 The golden-crowned wren is distinguished by 

 an orange crown. Its length is 4^ inches, breadth, 

 6| ; weight under 80 grains. Tne weight of the 

 common wren is nearly 3 drams. The most usual 

 haunts of the golden-crowned wren are tall trees, 

 particularly the oak, the yew, and the various spe- 

 cies of pine and fir. In these it builds its nest, a 

 very neat and elegant structure, the shape of which 

 varies according to the situation in which it is 

 placed. It is most commonly open at the top, 

 like that of the chaffinch ; but sometimes, even 

 under the sheltering boughs of a Norway fir, it is 

 covered with a dome, and has an opening on one 

 side. It is always ingeniously suspended beneath 

 the branch, like those of many tropical birds, being 

 the only instance of the kind amongst those of 

 Great Britain. The eggs are nine or ten in num- 

 ber, and are small, round, and white. The golden- 

 crowned wren is by no means so shy of the neigh- 

 bourhood of man as is generally supposed. Though 

 it abounds in forests, yet it equally frequents gar- 

 dens, occasionally even in the suburbs of large 

 towns, and very often builds close to the house, 

 most commonly in a yew or fir, at the height of 

 from five to twenty or thirty feet from the ground. 

 It is very fearless of observers ; and will allow you to 

 approach within a yard of it, while engaged, as it 

 generally is, in hunting for insects on the stems 

 and branches of trees. Perhaps the best time for 

 watching it is a hot sunny day in summer or au- 

 tumn. In a still and sultry noon, when not a leaf 

 is stirring, and almost every other bird has retired 

 from the heat of the sun into the shadiest thickets, 

 the little solitary golden-crowned wren is to be 

 seen flitting noiselessly from spray to spray, with 

 unwearied activity, in search of its food, paying no 

 attention to any one who happens to be watching 

 it, and never for a moment remaining in a state of 

 rest. Its movements are unlike those of any other 

 bird, except, indeed, the blue-tit, but even his do 

 not equal in lightness and airiness this little wren. 

 It flutters over the slenderest twigs like a butter- 

 fly, now on one side, now on the other, some- 

 times above the branch, sometimes beneath, hang- 

 ing with the head downwards, often at the end 

 of it, suspended in the air by its tiny wings, which 

 it quivers without the slightest sound, so that 

 unless you see it, if it were ever so close to you, 

 you would not be aware of its presence except for 

 the little low chirp which it occasionally emits, and 

 which is more like that of an insect than a bird. 

 In shape and plumage, too, it is superior to most of 

 the feathered inhabitants of our woods and gardens : 

 the latter is a beautiful mixture of green and yel- 

 low, with white bars on its wings ; and on its head 

 the golden crest, bordered with black, from which 

 it takes its name. In the spring and summer it 

 sings regularly, beginning about the middle of 

 March, and continuing till the end of July. Its 

 song is very soft and low, like a whisper, and, like 

 that of the grasshopper-lark, is no louder at the 

 distance of one yard than of twenty. During the 

 greater part of the year, it haunts tall trees, and 

 never alights on the earth ; but in the winter it is 

 frequently seen pecking for insects on the grass, or 

 among dead leaves, and even on a heath at some 

 little distance from any tree ; and when thus en- 

 gaged it will let you approach it sufficiently near to 

 hear the little snap of its beak when it has found 



its prey. There are two other species of wren 

 common to this country the yellow wren and the 

 lesser pettychaps; the former so called from its co- 

 lour, and the latter from its double notes, resem- 

 bling the words chip, chop. 



WREN, SIR CHRISTOPHER, a celebrated English 

 architect, was the son of the rector of East Knoyle, 

 in Wiltshire, where he was born, in 1632. He 

 entered as a student at Wadham college, Oxford, in 

 1646, previously to which time he had given proofs 

 of his genius, by the invention of astronomical and 

 pneumatic instruments. In 1647, he wrote a trea- 

 tise on spherical trigonometry, upon a new plan, 

 and, the following year, composed an algebraical 

 tract on the Julian period. In 1653, he was chosen 

 a fellow of the college of All-Souls. He was one 

 of the earliest members of the philosophical society 

 at Oxford, which was the origin of the royal socie- 

 ty, after the institution of which, in 1663, he was 

 elected a fellow, and distinguished himself by his 

 activity in promoting the objects of that institution. 

 In 1657, he was appointed professor of astronomy 

 at Gresham college, but, on being nominated to the 

 Savilian professorship of astronomy at Oxford, re- 

 signed the former office, and, in 1661, returned to 

 the university. He received a commission, in 1663, 

 to prepare designs for the restoration of St Paul's 

 cathedral, then one of the most remarkable Gothic 

 edifices in the kingdom. To prepare himself for 

 the execution of this great undertaking, he made a 

 visit to France in 1665, and then finished the de- 

 signs; but while they were under consideration, 

 the cathedral was destroyed by the fire of 1666, 

 and the plan of repairing it was relinquished. Wren 

 had now an opportunity for signalizing his talents 

 by the erection of an entirely new structure. The 

 contemporaneous destruction of fifty parochial 

 churches and many public buildings, also furnished 

 an ample field for his genius : and he would have 

 had the honour of founding, as it were, a new city, 

 if the design which he laid before the king and par- 

 liament could have been adopted; but private in- 

 terests prevented its acceptance. On the death of 

 Sir John Denham, in 1657, he succeeded to the 

 office of surveyor of the works. He resigned his 

 Savilian professorship in 1673. In 1674, he receiv- 

 ed the honour of knighthood ; and, in the following 

 year, the foundation of the new cathedral was laid. 

 In 1680, he was chosen president of the royal so- 

 ciety. In 1683, he was appointed architect, and 

 one of the commissioners of Chekea college ; and, 

 the following year, controller of the works at 

 Windsor castle. He was elected member of par- 

 liament for the borough of Plympton, in 1685. To 

 his other public trusts were added, in 1698, those 

 of surveyor general and commissioner for the repair 

 of Westminster abbey, and, in 1699, that of archi- 

 tect of Greenwich hospital. In 1700, he represent- 

 ed in parliament the boroughs of Weymouth and 

 Melcoinbe Regis. In 1708, he was made one of 

 the commissioners for the erection of fifty new 

 churches, in and near the city of London. After 

 having long been the highest ornament of his pro- 

 fession, he was, in 1718, deprived of the surveyor- 

 ship of the royal works, from political motives. 

 He was then in the eighty-fifth year of his life, the 

 remainder of which was devoted to scientific pur- 

 suits and the study of the Scriptures. He died 

 February 25, 1723. His remains were interred, 

 with the requisite honours, under the choir of St 

 Paul's cathedral ; and on his tomb is a monumental 

 inscription. It is as follows: 

 H 2 



