T yo BRITISH BIRDS. 



brown. The female is distinguished by a pale 

 yellow crown: her whole plumage is less vivid 

 than that of the male. 



This most pleasing fairy bird delights in the 

 largest trees, such as oaks, elms, tall pines, and 

 firs, particularly the first, in which it finds both 

 food and shelter; in these it builds its nest, which 

 is suspended, like a hammock, from a branch by 

 a kind of cordage made of the materials of which 

 the nest is chiefly composed ; it is of an oblong 

 form, having an aperture on one side, and is made 

 principally of moss, lined with the softest down, 

 mixed with slender filaments : the female lays 

 from six to a dozen eggs, scarcely larger than 

 peas, which are white, sprinkled with very small 

 spots of a dull colour. These birds are very agile, 

 and are almost continually in motion, fluttering 

 from branch to branch, creeping on all sides of 

 the trees, clinging to them in every situation, 

 and often hanging like the Titmouse. Their food 

 consists chiefly of the smallest insects, which they 

 find in the crevices of the bark of trees, or catch 

 nimbly on the wing ; they also eat the eggs of 

 insects, small worms, and various sorts of seeds. 



The Golden-crested Wren is diffused throughout 

 Europe ; it has also been met with in Asia and 

 America, and seems to bear great extremes of 

 temperature. It stays with us the w T hole year, 

 and is a constant resident even so far north as 

 the Orkney Islands, where it also breeds. Its 

 song is said to be very melodious, but weaker 

 than that of the Common Wren: it has besides a 

 sharp shrill cry, somewhat like that of the Grass- 

 hopper. 



