ITS MATERNAL CARE. 67 



meteors than solid matter, now on this side, now on that, 

 now above the twig, now hanging inverted under it, the 

 body never at rest, and the head having generally an 

 additional motion. The male sings early, though the time 

 of year varies with the forwardness of the season ; in warm 

 situations it is in February, and the young are sometimes 

 fledged in April. The nest of this bird is not easily dis- 

 covered, being placed among the thick branches of a pine 

 or some other lofty tree, or hidden between the ivy and the 

 boll. It is in the shape of a cup, very deep, and neatly 

 constructed; green moss forms the external part, some- 

 times interwoven with wool; the interior is very small 

 feathers, in such considerable quantity that the eggs, ten or 

 eleven in number, and no bigger than a pea, can scarcely 

 be discerned. 



We copy the following interesting account of this bird's 

 peculiarities from Broderip's ' Zoological Recreations ' : 



The notes of the Gold-crested Wren, the smallest of British birds, 

 can hardly be called a song, but they salute the ear in the beginning 

 of February ; and the beautiful little bird, with its elegant nest and 

 pale-brown eggs, weighing nine or ten grains each the bird weighs 

 no more than eighty must not pass unnoticed. A pair, which 

 took possession of a fir-tree in Colonel Montagu's garden, ceased 

 their song as soon as the young were hatched ; and, when they were 

 about six days' old, he took the nest and placed it outside his study 

 window. After the old birds had become familiar with that situa- 

 tion, the basket was brought within the window, and afterwards 

 was conveyed to the opposite side of the room. The male had regu- 

 larly assisted in feeding the young ones as long as they remained 

 outside the window ; and, though he attended the female after- 

 wards to that barrier, he never once entered the room, nor brought 

 any food while the young were in it. But the mother's affections 

 were not to be so checked. She would enter, and feed her infant 

 brood at the table where Colonel Montagu was sitting, and even 

 while he held the nest in his hand. One day he moved his head as 

 she was sitting on the edge of the nest which he held. She in- 

 stantly retreated so precipitately, that she mistook the closed for the 

 open part of the window, dashed herself against the glass, and lay 

 apparently breathless on the floor for some time. 



Neither the fright nor the hurt could, however, overpower her 

 maternal yearnings. Colonel Montagu had the pleasure of seeing her 

 recover, and soon return ; and she afterwards frequently fed her nest- 

 lings while he held the nest in his hand. The little mother's visits 

 were generally repeated in the space of a minute and a half, or two 



