THE WREN AND THE TROGLODYTE 189 



It differs in this from the troglodyte : it pursues its 

 occupations, followed by its whole family, with order and 

 method. The whole hand flies from one tuft of shoot to the 

 other, in a certain direction determined by a special 

 instinct of migration. An ornithologist, who is known as 

 a close observer of nature, M. de la Blanchere, has told 

 us in his interesting book about I'seful and noxious 

 birds, that he had succeeded in knowing well by ^hich 

 side a golden-crested wren had entered into a forest, and 

 also in which regions of the forest he would unfailingly 

 meet these little birdlings all winter long. 



The golden-crested wren is fond of large trees. It 

 suspends its nest beneath some forest pine tree, in whose 

 boughs the wind sings such melodious strains, or else 

 beneath the majestic fir of the Vosges, all bordered 

 with lichen. In this nest, rocked by the waves of the big- 

 forest, the female lays from seven to eleven yellowish 

 brown eggs, about the size of green peas. Now-a-days, 

 only low people or kings can afford the luxury of such 

 large families. 



In its small body, the golden-crowned wren combines 

 at the same time royal and plebeian blood. By its size, 

 its industrious habits and its good humour, it belongs to 

 the people; but it wears a crown and reigns in the forest 

 in a fashion of its own. It enjoys a sort of mysterious, 

 intangible royalty, which can only be compared to that 

 of Queen Mab or to that of Oberon. In the large, sleeping 



