GOLDCREST. 147 
of this little bird is very surprising: it will alight on the 
branch of a tall tree in the copse, and after a momentary 
survey, will dart on its prey reposing on the back of the 
stem, suspend itseif for a moment by a rapid motion of its 
wings, then return to a branch, again glance at the stem, 
and flit to it; im this manner it gradually mounts to the 
top of the tree, and, should its prey prove to be plentiful, 
will ascend and descend several times in succession, occasionally 
darting into the air at some unwary gnat sporting in the 
beams of the winter sun.’ 
Their song, as may be supposed, is a very small one; and 
Pennant mentions his having heard the bird utter it for a 
considerable time while hovering over a bush. It is very 
soft, rather sweet, and pleasing, and is heard even in the 
beginning or middle of the early month of February, and 
sometimes as soon as the end of January: it is mostly given 
forth from a branch, or in a hedge, or while the bird is 
flying from tree to tree; as well as when hovering in the 
‘manner spoken of. ‘The ordinary note is weak and feeble, but 
rather shrill; and im the quiet stillness of the depth of the 
wood it cannot fail to draw the attention, especially when 
the whole of the little party are incessantly uttering it: it is 
a mere ‘tzit, tzit, and ‘see’ or ‘sree.’ 
These birds begin to pair even by the end of February, 
and Mr. Selby has known the young birds fully fledged so 
early as the third week in April, the nest being built in 
March. The nest is placed underneath and generally near 
the end of the branch of a fir, or occasionally on an oak, 
eypress, holly, yew, or other tree, as also not very unfr equently 
in a laurustinus or other bush, and, though very rarely, in a 
hedge, supported by some of the smaller offshoots, and further 
attached to these by the moss and lichens of which it is 
composed being interwoven with them, mixed sometimes with 
willow down, cocoons, spiders’ webs, wool, grasses, and a few 
hairs. 16 measures about three inches and a half in diameter 
inside, and is deep and. of a spherical shape, the orifice being 
almost always in the upper part: some however are not. 
perfectly round. It closely assimilates in colour to the branch 
beneath which it is fixed. It is sometimes placed near the 
top of the tree, and at others only two or three feet from 
the ground: a very high gale has been known to dislodge 
the eggs—‘When the wind blows the cradle will rock.’ ‘These 
birds have been known to steal the materials from the nests 
