THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN 51 



or slipping up and down the stalks, continually pecking at something. 

 At a distance they looked like mice, and but for their ceaseless chatter 

 I should have passed them unnoticed. Even when I suddenly 

 checked my pony they evinced no concern, until she lowered her 

 head into their midst and gave vent to a prolonged snort. This 

 offended the goldcrests' dignity ; they immediately arose en masse and 

 joined their companions in the trees. 



The ordinary food of these birds consists of minute insects, for 

 which they diligently search every tree and shrub that seems a likely 

 hunting-ground. In their manner of feeding they resemble the 

 Warblers. For although they may be seen hanging upside down like 

 the Tits, as a rule they slip along a branch, stretching out head and 

 neck after the dainty manner of a chiffchaff or whitethroat garrulous 

 also, as is the latter bird. Indeed though akin to the Warblers, from 

 which family they scarcely differ in structural characteristics, yet in 

 their manner of life and habits goldcrests also strongly resemble the 

 Titmice. 



From my window almost any day I can see goldcrests feeding high 

 up amongst the branches in a fir plantation ; not indeed rivalling the 

 Tits in acrobatic feats, though choosing them as companions rather 

 than members of the Warbler family. This may be another proof that 

 intelligent adaptation to circumstances in time tends to variation of 

 species. Perhaps by and by the golden kinglet will forget that he 

 sprang from an aristocratic Warbler family, and develop into a 

 bourgeois Tit proper. 



Mr. Newstead 1 found that the goldcrest fed largely on American 

 blight during the autumn and winter months, and remarks "It 

 does not as a rule remain for any length of time in the infested 

 trees, but pays frequent visits during the day, spending the intervals 

 in more secluded spots. Out of five birds examined all contained 

 insects of the injurious group, besides spiders and fragments of 

 beetles. On migration, Gatke says "The rubble at the base of 



1 Food of Some British Birds, pp. 23, 24. 



