54 6 



MY GARDEN. 



generally decamp forthwith to other places where they are not so 

 cruelly treated. 



We have also the Greater Titmouse (Pants major, fig. 1175), the 

 Cole Tit (Pants ater, fig. 1176), the Marsh Tit (Parus palustris\ 

 and the Long-tailed Tit (Parus caudatus, fig. 1177). .In the severe 

 winter of 1870-71, when many of the small birds perished from cold 

 and hunger, they were so pressed for food that they were readily 

 caught in a trap baited with a piece of fat bacon. Several titmice 



Fu;. 1176. Cole Titmouse. 



FIG. 1177. Long-tailed Titmouse. 



FIG. 1178. Golden-crested 

 Wren. 



thus procured were placed by the gardener in the fernery, where they 

 enjoyed the genial temperature, and soon made themselves very much at 

 home ; they cleared every plant of aphis, coccus, or any other insect 

 they could find, and when I had my luncheon were quite ready to 

 share with me my frugal repast. But at the very earliest oppor- 

 tunity they proved themselves unthankful for the kindness shown 

 to them, and flew away through the first crack in the glass they 

 could find. The long-tailed titmouse is remarkable for the beauty 

 of its long nest, which is greatly prized by boys. 



The Golden-crested Wren (Regulus cristattts, fig. 1178) visits us, but 

 I do not remember to have seen its suspended nest, which is generally 

 fixed in a fir-tree. It is the smallest of all birds, and towards autumn 

 congregates in the woods round London, at Weybridge, and also in Hert- 

 fordshire, where hundreds may frequently be observed flying from tree 

 to tree, picking out every insect and every insect's egg they can find. 



My garden is rich in Warblers. The Grasshopper Warbler (Sylvia 

 locustella] has been heard. The Sedge Warbler (Sylvia Phrag- 



