THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN 53 



strikes the beholder as being entirely dictated by vanity, and at other 

 times it seems to suggest that the wooer is wholly at the mercy of the 

 wooed on bended knee, as it were ; in this instance royalty itself 

 stooping to conquer. 



The goldcrest's nest is usually suspended beneath a branch of 

 some evergreen tree, where it swings like a hammock, swayed to and 

 fro by every breeze, though not exposed to rough winds, as the 

 branch chosen is generally in a sheltered situation. Both birds take 

 part in its construction, and with the exception, perhaps, of the long- 

 tailed tits, this nest is the most elaborate and beautiful thing of its 

 kind. Both parents also feed the young ; but in some cases I believe 

 the female does most of this work, though, as the male often goes 

 further afield in his search after food, perhaps there is an equal 

 division of labour. 



Some years ago my attention was attracted by a pair of these 

 birds which were flying regularly to and from a cedar tree. Each 

 arrived simultaneously, with a tiny indistinguishable bit of something 

 which it deposited somewhere close by, and then departed with 

 empty beak. Although standing only a few feet from the spot where 

 they settled, I could not see what became of the material brought ; 

 though I was certain that a nest was in fact being built before my 

 very eyes. After forty minutes of vain watching, the sun shone out 

 brightly it was about 5 A.M. and suddenly I caught a glint of 

 iridescent cobweb beneath a dark bough. Approaching the spot 

 carefully, and not daring to touch the branches, I all but put my face 

 into the most fairy-like string-bag imaginable. There hung an out- 

 line of the cradle that was to be, just sketched out in cobwebs. It 

 consisted of four twisted silken ropes attached to four lateral pendent 

 twigs ; between these lines, and connecting them, was an intricate 

 network of single strands of cobweb. On this delicate spherical 

 framework the builders continually fixed minute bits of moss and 

 lichen; and as if by magic the structure rapidly grew in density. 

 Unfortunately I was unable to revisit the nest for some days, by which 



