170 CERTHIAD^E. 



habits, and the general resemblance in the colours of the 

 plumage of certain species, limited in numbers, but distri- 

 buted over Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, have in- 

 duced modern ornithologists to adopt the genus Troglodytes, 

 first proposed for them by Baron Cuvier ; and M. Tem- 

 minck, as will be seen by the quotation from his Supple- 

 ment, coincides in the propriety of this view. 



Among our small birds there is scarcely one that is better 

 known, or more secure by privilege, than the little Wren ; 

 frequenting gardens close to our houses, and occasionally 

 taking shelter in out-buildings, its confidence, like that 

 of the Robin, appears to have induced and insured its pro- 

 tection. It creeps mouse-like from our sight through 

 hedges and underwood, occasionally only taking wing for 

 a short distance, and again disappears from our view. 

 This little bird sings throughout the greater part of the 

 year with a shrill and lively strain, and even 



" When icicles hang dripping from the rock, 

 Pipes his perennial lay ;" 



enduring a frosty winter's night by uniting and roosting in 

 company in some sheltered hole of a wall or under thatch. 

 Sir William Jardine and Mr. Selby both mention the cir- 

 cumstance of several of these diminutive birds passing the 

 night together in the same aperture ; and the Hon. W. 

 Herbert says that in severe weather they frequently roost 

 in cow-houses, where the confined cattle keep them warm. 

 The Wren begins to make a nest early in spring, and 

 sometimes fixes it under the thatch of a building, against 

 the side of a moss-covered tree, or close to an impending 

 bank that secures it from the rain ; but what is remarkable, 

 says Montagu, "the materials of the nest are generally 

 adapted to the place : if built against the side of a hayrick, 

 it is composed of hay ; if against the side of a tree covered 



