GOLD-CRESTED WREN 



tamed, and will in a very short time take their 

 food from the hand ; but such is their extreme deli- 

 cacy, that many die before one can be reared : once 

 accustomed to confinement, they have been known 

 to live a considerable time. 



The number of these birds indigenous to this 

 country is at times considerably augmented during 

 the autumnal and hyemal months by a body of 

 strangers from the more northern provinces of 

 Europe, making these shores their winter resort. 



"The Gold-crested Wren," says Professor Rennie, 

 " appears to know how to accommodate its nest 

 to the locality chosen. When it selects a spot 

 where there is a natural canopy, it does not take 

 the trouble to build one ; but when this is wanting, 

 it forms as neat a dome, with a small side entrance, 

 as any of the other British Wrens. It is the only 

 native bird, I believe, which ever suspends its 

 nest like so many of the tropical birds ; for though it 

 is said not unfrequently to build against the trunk 

 of a tree covered with ivy, I have always found 

 it hanging under the broad bough of a spruce 

 fir or cedar, or a yew tree ; the thick flat dispo- 

 sition of the leaves forming a sort of umbrella over 

 the opening. The materials of the nest are the 

 same as those of the Goldfinch and Chaffinch ; — 

 namely, green moss, or lichens, felted together 

 very neatly with wool, and lined with the down of 

 willows and other plants, or very soft feathers." * 

 The eggs are from seven to ten in number, of 



* Architecture of Birds. 



