THE WREN. 167 



but this is also the case with the Great Tit when similarly treated. The best 

 plan with all these birds when first captured is to give them plenty of room in a 

 box-cage, the back of which should be covered with virgin-cork, behind which 

 (when alarmed) they may retire. For a day or two it is well to cover the front 

 of the cage with muslin, which renders all newly caught birds less liable to attempt 

 escape in that direction ; gradually accustom them to your presence, always offering 

 them delicacies until they learn to trust you : for as Lord Lilford says : " The 

 kernel of a hazel or ground-nut is an irresistible morsel, and will tempt an old 

 wild- caught Nuthatch to snatch it from the fingers very soon after capture." 



FAMILY TROGLODYTIM;. 



THE Wrens are represented in Great Britain by one species only ; the St. Kilda 

 Wren, to which Mr. Seebohm gave the name of T. hirtensis, being now 

 considered a mere local variation, and inseparable from some of those found on 

 the Continent. 



Dr. Sharpe regards the Wrens as a mere Subfamily of the Timeliida (Babbling 

 Thrushes) remarking,* " In their habits and in their form the Wrens are essentially 

 Timeliine. They possess the strong, even clumsy, legs and concave rounded wings 

 which distinguish this group of birds, and they do not migrate, as a rule. The 

 nests are generally domed, and hence one of the reasons for retaining the Dippers 

 in the family. The principal characteristic, however, of a Wren, and one that 

 separates them from the true Timeliine birds, is the almost entire absence of rictal 

 bristles." 



Seebohm, on the other hand regards the Wrens as aberrant Tits ; so far as I 

 can make out, solely on the ground that their eggs are almost identical : he admits 

 that they are " Timeliine in their habits, skulking in underwood, and without 

 undulation in their flight." 



Doubtless the affinities of the Wren are rather Timeliine than Parine ; but 

 most students of British Birds are not familiar with Bulbuls, Shamas, and the 



* "Catalogue of Birds," vol. VI., p. 180. 



