To this I append a note from Mr. Stevenson, giving 
of Norfolk 
an aecount of a similar migration of the bird to the coast 
“The Golden-crested M'ren is very common in Norfolk throughout the year, nesting in the fir-plantations 
and shrubberies. That these fairy-like little creatures brave the perils of a sea-voyage in autumn, and, leav- 
ing more northern countries, swell the numbers of our usual visitants, there can no longer be any doubt, from 
their frequent appearance on the coasts at such seasons in an exhausted state, and the fact of specimens being- 
picked up dead at the foot of our lighthouses, having flown, with other nocturnal migrants, against the upper win- 
dows, dazzled and attracted by the glare of the lamps. The most striking instance, however, of their migration 
in large numbers was witnessed by my friend Captain Longe, of Great Yarmouth, on the morning of the 2nd 
of November 1862. He says, in a letter to to me, ‘As I was walking to Hemsby, about 7.30, when it was 
just daylight, about half a mile out of Yarmouth, on the Calster road, my attention was attracted to a small 
hush overhanging the marsh-dyke which borders the pathway, by the continuous twittering of a small bird. 
On looking closely, I found the bush, small as it was, literally covered with Golden-crested Wrens. There 
was hardly an inch of twug that had not a bird on it ; and even from my rough attempt at calculation at the 
time, I feel sure there were at least between 200 and 300. Most of them were either females or young- 
birds, having a /mo??-coloured crest, lliey were perfectly tame ; and although I sat dowm on the other 
side of the ditch w ithin six feet and watched them for some time, they did not attempt to fly away ; but 
one (or more) w’ould occasionally rise off its perch and hover like a Butterfly, and settle again in some other 
position. I went the next morning to look for them, but they Avere all gone ; the wind had been easterly, Avith 
much fog.’ I have lately seen the spot where this flight had settled themseh^es before proceeding inland, 
and found it close to the sandhills Avhich run parallel with the coast, and not more than tAvoor three hundred 
yards from the sea-beach.” 
It would be highly interesting to ascertain Avhether these migrants return again in the spring to the countries 
Avhence they came, like the Redwing and Fieldfare ; or whether these vast accessions are due to some extra- 
neous cause, such as an unusual severity in the season prompting them to seek a more genial clime, or an 
undue increase in the number of individuals, rendering the removal of a portion of them necessary for the 
general Avelfare. It is surely due to one or other of these causes ; for how ill-adapted is this little bird for the 
performance of so long a journey Avithout the chance of a rest by the Avay ! The subject is indeed a mystery, 
and most puzzling to us all. Independently of England, this bird inhabits Europe generally, the northern 
portions of Africa, probably the Himalayas, China, and Japan ; at least Golden Crests Avhich closely resemble 
our own birds inhabit those countries. 
The nest of the Golden-crested Wren is as beautiful as the bird that makes it. A fine example, 
taken by myself at Loudwater, on the 2nd of May 1858, from the sunny side of a silver spruce, Avas formed 
of green moss, masses of cobwebs, and little patches of avooI, Avarmly lined Avith soft feathers ; it was sus- 
pended to the underside of a branch by numerous filaments, apparently composed of spiders’ webs and fibres 
of wool ; in form it Avas nearly spherical, but much flattened at the top, the upper edge being pressed iiiAA'ards, 
as it Avere, so that the aperture Avas considerably smaller than the interior, which measured 3f inches, while 
the opening vA^as barely li. This nest contained eight eggs, of a delicate pearly salmon-colour, minutely 
freckled at the larger end with ochre-broAvn in the form of a zone. 
The young birds, when they leav^e the nest, have no trace w'hatever of the golden croAvn ; at the second 
moult, however, these feathers begin to appear, and are fully assumed by the end of the ensuing autumn, 
when the crown of the female becomes lemon-, and that of the male rich yellow. 
To give a description of so common a bird would be superfluous Avhen it is accurately portrayed on the 
opposite Plate, and I shall have to point out wherein it differs from the Fire-crested Wren {Regidus igni- 
capillus) in my account of that species. 
The Plate represents tAAm males, a female, and a nest on a branch of the Silver Fir, all of the natural size. 
