176 BIRD-LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



This little Warbler is especially numerous in all 

 the woods round Berry Pomeroy Castle. Another 

 little bird, perhaps not very distantly related to 

 the Willow Wrens, that frequents many of our 

 fir and larch plantations is the Goldcrest, the 

 tiniest member of Britain's avifauna. The Gold- 

 crest breeds commonly in Devonshire, and there 

 is apparently a large increase in their number 

 in the autumn, when the migratory flights from 

 the Continent reach this country. During the 

 non-breeding season the Goldcrest may be met 

 with in almost any hedge, orchard, or garden, 

 but it chiefly retires to shrubberies and fir and 

 larch plantations to nest. There is a small group 

 of fir-trees just outside Churston Station, extend- 

 ing for some distance along the sides of the 

 highway to Brixham, in which a few pairs of 

 Goldcrests have bred for years to our certain 

 knowledge. Two specimens of that rare visitor 

 to our islands, the Firecrest, are said to have 

 been obtained at Torquay. We may remark, 

 however, that the Goldcrest is never seen in 

 such enormous numbers as is frequently the case 

 farther north and east, especially along our eastern 

 seaboard. The Creeper is another small woodland 



