348 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. 



stonefmches, the warblers, the bullfinches, the 

 wrens, the wagtails, etc. There are a hundred 

 and seventy-two species in the Museum. The 

 most celebrated, not for its plumage, but for its 

 singing, is the nightingale. Amongst the foreign 

 species, the motacilla superba, m. cyanea, and the 

 malachura, all three from New Holland, ought 

 to be particularly noticed, the two first, for the 

 beauty of their colours, the third, for the deli- 

 cacy and slenderness of the feathers of its tail. 



Amongst the indigenous species, we will only 

 mention the most interesting, such as the wheat- 

 ear (motacilla cenanthe) , which follows the la- 

 bourers in the fields, to feed on the worms 

 turned up by the plough. The robin-redbreast, 

 which seeks shelter in our dwellings during 

 winter : in some provinces they assemble in 

 such numerous flights, that the sky seems co- 

 vered by them. The reed-warbler (motacilla 

 salicarid), which fastens its nest to three reed- 

 stalks, so that it rises and falls with the surface of 

 the water, upon which it reposes. The mota- 

 cilla modalaris^ the only species which remains 

 with us during winter, and enlivens this season 

 with its agreeable notes : it builds its nest twice 

 in the year, and feeds on corn, when insects are 

 not to be had. The golden crowned wren (mo- 

 tacilla regnlus] is the smallest of all European 



