276 THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 



All the movements of the Golden-crested Wren are full of spring and fiery activity, 

 and the manner in which it will launch itself from one tree to another, and then, without 

 a pause, commence traversing the branches, is a sight well worth seeing. Perhaps it is 

 seen to best advantage among the fir-trees, where it finds great scope for its active habits. 

 Up one branch it scuds, down another, then whisks itself through the air to a fresb tree, 

 and then flings itself back again to its former perch. Along the twigs it runs with asto- 

 nishing rapidity, sometimes clinging with its head downward, sometimes running round 

 and round them spirally, always twisting its pert little head in every direction, and 

 probing each hole and crevice with its sharp slender little bill. The roughest-barked trees 

 are its favourite resort, because in such localities it finds its best supply of insect food. 



Mr. Thompson, in the History of the Birds of Ireland, rather controverts the hardy 

 nature of the Gold Crest. " The Gold-crested Regulus seems not to be the hardy bird that 

 authors generally imagine. In the north of Ireland it has frequently been found dead 

 about the hedges, not only in severe winters, but after slight frosts. In the greenhouses and 

 hothouses in the garden of a relative near Belfast, these birds resorted so regularly in the mild 

 winter of 1831 1832, that some were captured weekly throughout the season, and taken 

 to one of our bird-preservers : on the rear wall of the house is a range of sheds accessible 

 to birds, and dense plantations of trees and evergreen shrubs are quite contiguous. They were 

 occasionally caught at all seasons, as were common wrens and titmice many of both 

 together with robins, sparrows and chaffinches. . . . Early in the winter of 1835, three of 

 these birds, which had been captured by a cat in a small garden in a very populous part 

 of Belfast, were brought to me, and on the preceding day four or five had, in the same 

 place, shared a similar fate. In the middle of December, 1846, after a few days of frost 

 and snow, I observed a Regulus fly from a plantation at the roadside several times, and 

 alight at the base of the demesne wall bounding the footway on which I walked." 



Although these remarks would tend to contradict the statement that the Kinglet is a 

 hardy bird, it must be remembered that the climates of England and of Northern Ireland are 

 very different, and that in the latter locality the constant damp, frequent rain, and bleak 

 winds are sufficiently trying to drive any creature under shelter. 



The nest of this beautiful little bird is exquisitely woven of various soft substances, 

 and is generally suspended to a trunk where it is well sheltered from the weather. I have 

 often found their nests, and in every instance have noticed that they are shaded by leaves, 

 the projecting portion of a branch, or some such protection. In one case the nest that was 

 suspended to a fir-branch was almost invisible beneath a heavy bunch of large cones that 

 drooped over it, and forced the bird to gain admission by creeping along the branch 

 to which the nest was suspended. The edifice is usually supported by three branches, one 

 above and one at either side. The nest is usually lined with feathers, and contains a 

 considerable number of eggs, generally from six to ten. These eggs are hardly bigger than 

 peas, and, as may be supposed, their shells are so delicately thin, that to extract the 

 interior without damaging them is a very difficult matter. It may here be noticed that the 

 surest mode of emptying such delicate eggs is to cover them with silver paper saturated 

 with thick gum, and waiting till it is dry before attempting to bore a hole through the 

 shell. After the egg has been cleaned, it should be placed in warm water, when the 

 gum is dissolved and the paper can be washed away. 



The following interesting account of some Golden-crested Wrens and their habits was 

 kindly forwarded to me by a lady : 



" I had often questioned and wondered why some birds possess crests and crowns, 

 while the majority are destitute of these feathery ornaments. But in the winter of 1853 

 I became personally acquainted with some Golden-crested Wrens, who revealed the 

 mystery to me. I now feel sure that crowns and crests typify and are a sort of natural 

 safety-valve to a nature which is imbued with a spirit of empire. At all events it is so in 

 the case of the Golden-crested Wren, for he is running over with the governing spirit, and 

 his cool audacity, fiery courage, and fierce domination beggar description. 



That winter we had a family of six tame, but uncaged birds ; they were a strange- 

 looking group, but, nevertheless, a very happy one. There was a jackdaw, a magpie, two 



