LXXWII 

 REGULUS AUKICAPILLUS. (sklby.) 



GoLOBN Crested Wren. 



This, the least of all our British birds, is very generally 

 dispersed throughout the island, and may be met with from 

 the most northerly part of Scotland to the southern extre- 

 mity of England ; we likewise saw it whilst traversing the 

 pine forests of Norway. In activity and habits, when in 

 search of insects, it resembles much the various species of Tit- 

 mice, and may be seen like them suspended from the branches 

 of trees, and in all those beautiful and graceful attitudes so 

 peculiar to the tribe ; its chief resort is in fir plantations, 

 and its nest is usually placed in a tree of that species ; it is 

 most commonly suspended beneath the sheltering branch of a 

 spruce fir, attached to some of the slender drooping twigs, at 

 other times built upon its upper surface ; I have seen it, also, 

 but rarely, placed against the trunk of the tree, upon the 

 base of a diverging branch, and at an elevation of from twelve 

 to twenty feet above the ground ; it is composed of the soft- 

 est species of mosses, interwoven with wool, a few grasses, 

 dead leaves, and spiders' webs ; with the latter it is fastened 

 to the twigs, and is lined with a quantity of feathers, those 

 of the smaller birds being carefully selected for the purpose ; 

 its eggs vary from seven to eight, which is the number most 

 frequent, to ten, or even eleven ; their commonest colour being 

 that of Fig. 1 ; for specimens of the pretty variety accom- 

 panying it I am indebted to the Rev. W. D. Fox, of Derby- 

 shire, Avho meets with it breeding abundantly in his own 

 neighbourhood, indeed I have never seen it so mnnerous else- 

 where as it is in that countv. 



