depths of the pine woods. It used always to put me in mind of a black- 

 smith's hammer ringing on the anvil, and may be represented by the syllables 

 ' tui-tui-tui-tui-tyip-a-rip-a-rip-a.' Sometimes the little songster pours forth his 

 melody as he sits perched on the top of some small fir-tree, or as he chases 

 his mate with lightning-like rapidity through the branches, or when he hangs 

 suspended from the drooping branches of the spruce or larch. 



About the middle of May, sometimes earlier, the Golden-crested Wren 

 prepares its nest, which is usually slung from a branch, like a tiny hammock. 

 The commonest site is at the very end of a spruce-fir branch, usually where 

 two or three small twigs branch out and form a slight thickening of the 

 foliage. The nest is fairly deep and very nearly spherical, and is securely 

 woven on to the surrounding twigs ; it is made of green moss and horsehair, 

 felted together with cobwebs, and sometimes covered with a few tiny bits of 

 lichen, and is carefully lined with a profusion of feathers. The edge of the 

 nest is often carefully interwoven with feathers, with their tips pointing 

 towards the centre of the nest, as a means of preventing the eggs from being 

 thrown out when the branch is violently swayed by the wind. In plantations 

 of young spruce-trees the nest is often placed almost against the trunk at the very 

 top of the tree among the last few twigs. The Golden-crested Wren is a very 

 close sitter, and will not leave her nest until the branch on which it is placed 

 be struck with a stick or shaken violently. When flushed from the nest she 

 seldom flies far, often not leaving the tree, but hops about the twigs around, 

 peering inquisitively at the intruder, but not exhibiting much anxiety unless 

 there are half-fledged young in the nest, when she flies anxiously about, often 

 coming within a couple of feet of the intruder, and incessantly uttering her 

 plaintive call-notes. 



The eggs of the Golden-crested Wren vary in number from five to ten, 

 sometimes even as many as twelve are laid, though how the nest holds the 

 young of such large broods is a marvel. They are usually a very delicate 

 buffish white, thickly spotted with very faint tiny red markings, often so 

 thick as to conceal the ground-colour and to give the eggs a reddish appear- 

 ance. On some specimens the markings form a sort of zone round the 

 large end of the egg, while other specimens are very nearly white and have 

 no markings. They vary in length from "60 to '51 inch, and in breadth from 

 44 to '40 inch. 



After the young are able to fly they form a little family party with the 

 old birds, and keep together till the following spring, when they begin to look 

 out for mates. 



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