THE FIERY-CRESTED WREN. 341 



verbially good-tempered, if they get their beef; and parched 

 lentils and potatoes certainly raise the malignant and mur- 

 derous passions more than beef-steaks or black-puddings, in 

 spite of the poetical allegation, that " he who feeds on blood 

 must be cruel." 



Well, the cat in question is a very notable bird-catcher. 

 At first, no doubt, for the supply of her own appetite ; but her 

 master and she now so well understand each other, that when 

 she catches a bird she brings it to him. If it suits his pur- 

 pose, she is fondled or fed ; and, if not, the bird is returned 

 to her, and she does with it as she likes. In that way she 

 brought the fiery-crested wren to her master, a young bird, 

 and just at the season when the young, if hatched in the 

 country, would have begun to fly. That afforded a hint, 

 which was followed up; the old birds were observed in 

 the neighbourhood, and very soon after they were observed 

 near Brighton ; and altogether there is no room for doubting 

 that they are native and resident birds. 



Hitherto they have not been seen in the northern parts of 

 the island ; and their history, as a species, is rather too short 

 for furnishing any satisfactory data as to how they and the 

 golden-crested species may divide the land. The probability 

 is, that the fiery-crested is less an upland bird than the 

 other ; but that is only a probability. 



No question that the two species have been often con- 

 founded, as their size, habits, and general appearance, are 

 very much alike. But upon a closer examination, the specific 

 differences appear. The crest, which is golden orange in the 

 one, is bright fire-red in the other. The golden-crest has 

 one black streak along the margin of the crest ; the fiery-crest 

 has three, alternating with two white ones. The yellow on 

 the shoulders of the golden-crest has a greenish tinge ; that 

 on the fiery-crest is pure or inclining to orange. The bill of 

 the fiery-crest is rather stronger and broader at the base, 



