THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 199 



hope of outdoing its numerous rivals in the favor of some attractive 

 female. Should any one of the feathered competitors venture to intrude 

 upon the same branch as the energetic singer, he is at once driven with 

 such violence from the spot as to prevent a repetition of the offence. 

 Like other members of this family, the Sedge Warbler subsists princi- 

 pally upon insects, and occasionally devours various kinds of berries. 

 The nest, which is placed amongst clumps of sedge grass or rushes, on 

 marshy ground, at not more than a foot and a half from the surface, 

 is firmly suspended to the surrounding stalks, and formed of hay, stub- 

 ble, roots and green moss, woven thickly and firmly together, and lined 

 with horsehair, feathers, and delicate blades of grass. 



THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 



The hend and upper part of the body of tins Wren, are of a deep 



reddish brown: above each eye 

 there is a stroke of white: the 

 buck, and the coverts of the 

 wings and tail, are marked with 

 slender transverse black lines; 

 the quill-feather's with bars of 

 black and red. The throat is of 

 a yellowish white. The belly 

 and sides are crossed with narrow 

 dusky and pule reddish-brown 

 lines. The tail is crossed with 

 dusky bars. 



The song of this beautiful 

 little bird, the smallest of all 

 the British feathered race, is 

 THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WRE. extremely delicate and pleasing. 



It is not much unlike, but it is 



not quite so loud as, that of the Common Wren. The Golden- 

 crested Wren may be easily known in winter by its shrill 

 squeak, somewhat resembling the crinking of a Grasshopper. 

 Except in the frosts, it continues its song during the whole year. 

 These birds are very agile : they are almost continually in motion, 

 fluttering from branch to branch, creeping on all sides of the trees, 

 dinging to them in every situation, and often hanging with their 

 backs downward, in the manner of the Titmice. 



Their food consists chiefly of minute 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 kind of 

 seeds. They delight to frequent the largest trees, such as oaks, elms, 

 and firs. 



The nest of the Golden-crested Wren is an interesting fabric. It 

 somewhat resembles that of the Chaffinch ; and is frequently form- 

 ed amongst the leaves at the tip of a branch of a fir-tree, where it 

 >vings about in high winds, like a pendulum. It is oval, very deep, 



