THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 



and sides. The female is not so brightly 

 coloured as her mate. 



The nest is generally, though not al- 

 ways, suspended from the branch of a 

 cedar, spruce, fir, yew, or holly tree at 

 ^'arying heights from the ground. I have 

 seen it in a furze bush, and at an ele- 

 ^'ation of thirty feet or more from the 

 ground in a fir tree. It breeds in shrub- 

 beries, plantations, and spinnies, and 

 makes its nest of green moss, lichens, 

 fine grass, spiders' webs, and hair beau- 

 tifully felted together and lined with 

 liberal quantities of down and feathers. 



The eggs number six or seven, as a rule, 

 and are pale flesh or yellowish-white in 

 ground colour, spotted and blotched with 

 reddish-brown, the markings being most 

 numerous at the larger end. 



The Gold-crest's song is like its singer 

 — very small, soft, and sweet. It is 

 difficult to hear, especially towards the 

 end, unless the listener happens to be 

 very close. In the neighbourhood of 

 Birmingham I once had the pleasure of 

 listening to a bird of this species in an 

 evergreen hedge only two or three feet 

 away from me, and \\a.s greatlj' surprised 

 at the sweet melodiousness of its limited 

 notes. 



g' 249 



