THK ALPINE WARBLER. 273 



centre, and squeezed themselves into the middle. A fresh 

 couple from the flanks immediately renewed the attack upon 

 the centre, and the conflict continued till the light began to 

 fail them. A severe frost in February killed all but one of 

 them in one night, though in a furnished drawing-room. The 

 survivor was preserved in a little cage by burying it every 

 night under the sofa cushions ; but having been one sharp 

 morning taken from under them before the room was suffi- 

 ciently warmed by the fire, though perfectly well when 

 removed, it was dead in ten minutes. The nightingale is not 

 much more tender of cold than a canary bird. The golden- 

 crowned wren very much frequents spruce fir trees and cedars, 

 and hangs its nest under their branches ; it is also fond of the 

 neighbourhood of furze bushes, under which it probably finds 

 warm refuge from the cold. The brown wren is very apt in 

 frosty weather to roost in cow-houses, where the cattle keep 

 it warm. 



THE ALPINE WARBLER. 



Sturnus collaris, LINN^US ; Motacilla Alpina, LINNAEUS ; La Fauvette des Alpes, 

 BOFFON ; Der Alpensanger, BECHSTEIN. 



THE characteristics of this bird are so equivocal that it is 

 sometimes ranked with the larks, sometimes with the starlings, 

 and sometimes with the MotaciUce. It is six inches and a half 

 in length, but the tail alone measures nearly three. The beak 

 is six lines, and is dark brown above and orange beneath ; the 

 mandibles are flattish at the sides; the iris is yellow; the 

 shanks are an inch high, and pale brown ; a whitish ash grey 

 predominates on the head, neck, and back, but the latter is 

 streaked with dark brown, the others with pale brown. 



The female and young ones are variegated with dark brown 

 on the belly ; the back is dark, and the spots on the throat less 

 apparent. 



OBSERVATIONS. This species frequents the secondary mountains of 

 Switzerland and southern Germany, and is as common there as the field larks 

 on our plains*. In winter it descends into the valleys, and approaches 



* It is rare in Britain. TRANSLA-OR: 

 T 



