9S 



GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 



Tni^i and the following bird, like many 

 others which I have described, are so very 

 rarely kept in cages, that I should have 

 passed them unnoticed, had I not observed 

 that they have been written upon in other 

 works of this kind : I shall therefore give a 

 short description of them, as they are 

 ranked among the British song birds. 



The golden-crested wren is supposed lo 

 be the smallest of all the European birds, 

 being not quite three inches and a half in 

 length; its plumage is of a yellowish 

 olive green on the back and tail ; the wings 

 are of a dusky brown ; and the under parts 

 of tlie body are of a pale reddish white, 

 tinged with green : but the mark which dis- 

 tinguishes it from all other birds, and from 

 which it takes its name, is the crown of its 

 head, where the feathers are longer than on 

 the other parts, so as to form a crest of a 

 bright golden yello\/j bordered on each side 



