78 FEBRUARY 



phecy, came in quantity from overseas on the news so 

 it seemed that the country was overrun with voles, 

 One cock bird was seen to bring eight, one after the other, 

 to its mate. She refused the last, which he then ate 

 himself. 



The golden-crested wren is much the smallest of our 

 birds, though perhaps not much lighter than the long- 

 tailed tit. Its tiny form went easily into a small match 

 box, and left a good deal of space unfilled. The wonder 

 of this bird is its crest. It is proportionately bigger by a 

 good deal than the most gorgeous headdress worn by a 

 Sioux Indian. The crest stands erect, and is of a scarcely 

 credible brilliance gold in front and fiery orange behind, 

 and in the midst shining with the polish of spun silk. It 

 deserves also the name of its very close cousin, the fire- 

 crest, A good deal of the wonder and mystery belonging 

 to the tribe of birds their quick vitality and passionate 

 journeyings, are condensed into the little frame. 



Many of us in the South regard the gold-crest as 

 among the rarer birds, especially in winter ; but their 

 numbers in the island are immense. Among the vivider 

 memories of birds is an experience in a Westmorland 

 garden. I walked out just before breakfast, and found an 

 evergreen bush as full of the birds as the lime tree in 

 flower is full of bees. They took no heed of me what 

 ever, though I was touching the bush, and some of them 

 would stop for a restless moment within a few inches of 

 my eyes. Observers on the East Coast have found the 

 shore alive with them on a winter s day, many so wearied 

 with the long journey that they would allow themselves 

 to be picked up in the hand. There is, of course, a 

 locus classicus on migration in which the gold-crest takes 

 first place. Indeed, I know no passage in any book on 

 natural history that surpasses it. Gatke, watching 



