latter, would be as badly wived as the folks of Australia. In its lineal dimensions, the common wren does not differ much from the crested ones, the length being about four inches, and the stretch of the wings about six. The body is also short, and the tail long, though, perhaps, not quite so long as in the crested ones, and it is not forked; it is in general borne sloping upward at a considerable angle with the axis of the body. The weight is however, fully three times that of the gold-crest, being about two hundred and fifty grains to eighty. It is, indeed, one of the heaviest, and also the stoutest, for its inches, of all the feathered race. house, but not in; and it does not appear to be so thankful for crumbs of bread as the robin. Altogether it is a much more obscure bird than the other, and seldom appears in open places, or perched at any great elevation on trees. It neither comes so early nor so regularly as the other, and it departs sooner in the spring. The warm and shaded places about which it lurks appear to have a better supply of food during a greater part of the year than the haunts of the robin. It does not do a great deal of garden work on the trees themselves, as the other does; but we must not, for this reason, suppose that it is wholly without its use. Notwithstanding its partiality for hiding-places, there appears to be a good deal of curiosity about this Of course, the bird is fitted for very different action wren: and, indeed, it seems to be a pretty general from that of the light and airy crested wrens; for law among animals, that those which find their food while they are beating about for their food among by prying about in obscure or confined places, are the buds and sprays, it is generally ranging among, very apt to examine everything new with a great or below, the underwood. It lodges in holes of the deal of attention. Many other birds, which you surearth, of walls, of trees, or in heaps of stones, or un-prise by walking into the garden or the shrubbery, der fallen timber; and even during the day it may betake themselves to their perches or hiding-places be seen to leap about by the assistance of its wings the instant that they observe you; but not so the rather than to fly. Like the robins, the wrens never formally associate with each other; for in the places where they are most abundant, each individual seems to act entirely for itself. In cold weather, however, several of them may sometimes be found in the same hole but there is no likelihood of their entering these by mutual consent, and their courage may be so taken down by the cold, that their pugnacity, which is pretty strong and forward at other times, may make them prefer heat to hostility. The wren is a dusky-looking little bird, and when it moves about in a pile of sticks, or under the leafless brushwood, it might, at first sight, be mistaken for a mouse. Its bill is about half an inch long, a little bent, of a dull brownish colour, and so slender that it can with difficulty be seen even at a little distance, if not projected against something much lighter in the colour; the irides are hazel, and the eyes, though not large, are full and expressive; the whole of the upper part is reddish brown, clouded with obscure cross bars of dusky, and the under parts are of the same brown, but lighter in the shade; the quills and tail-feathers are dusky brown, and there are very few markings on any part, except an obscure pale streak over the eye, and a few white spots on the under coverts of the tail: the feet are of the same brown as the general teint of the body; and perhaps there are few instances of a more perfect adaptation of the colour of birds of the same family to the places which they inhabit than the fine but delicate teints of the crested wrens on the top of the tree, and the sober livery of this one, which breeds with the mice among the brushwood at the bottom. Insects and earthworms, especially the latter, form at least the principal food of the common wren; and, small as its bill is, we have seen it in a garden pull from the ground an earthworm as long as itself, and nearly as thick as a goose-quill, and fly to the foot of an apple-tree, and, by the process of swallowing alone, bolt it in a very short time. It has been said, though we suspect with no great truth, that the robin cleans its worms. We never saw one so nice in its eating, and certainly the wren takes them as they are. As the winter bird, the wren has none of the peculiar fascinations of the robin. It comes near to the wren, for it leaps out of the bush to reconnoitre you; and if you stand perfectly still, it will remain "at gaze” for several minutes; but if you follow it, it moves to two or three places, still eying you with a sort of wondering curiosity, till at last it leaps away you know not where. If you keep your first position steadily for some time, the chance is, that it will treat you in a different manner, for it will leap to some perch, not a very elevated one, and salute you with its song, which, though far from varied or powerful one, is much more shrill and sweet than you would be prepared to expect from a creature so mouse-like in its colour and habits. Cats lie much in wait for wrens where they are abundant, but they do not appear to be so successful in catching them as in catching many other birds; for the cat is found with many robins for one wren even in places distant from towns and near woods, where the two birds are about equally numerous. This is another proof of the very keen eye of this little bird; and we have again and again seen grimalkin get within her distance, and take her spring, but the wren bounded a little aside, and, leaping on a twig, looked down upon her with perfect unconcern. The fact is, that birds of moderate rango in the free air are much more frequently destroyed by cats than birds of holes and corners, as they do not appear to have their eyes so much about them, and are more awake to sounds than to sights. It is chiefly in the very severe weather that wrens come to the close vicinity of houses, and at these times they sing, although every other bird is mute, save the querulous and complaining chirp, which has no expression of pleasure to the bird, or pleasurableness to the hearer. In the northern parts of the country, when the snow lies confirmed for many weeks to the depth of several feet over the common pasture of the wren, and the bird must resort to the vicinity of the farmhouse, or the bank of the yet unfrozen fountain or stream, it is delightful to see how the little thing joys in the warmth of the sun, leaps upon some projecting point, and pours forth its little song as jocundly as any lark that ever proclaimed the spring from the top of the morning sky. The nest of the wren is always in a warm and sheltered place, though differently sheltered accord larger than the winter wren, and different in colour. The length is four inches and a half, and the extent of the wings five and three quarters. The upper part is deep brown, clearer in the teint than that on the other species; but clouded in the same way with tranverse markings of dusky black, except upon the head and neck. The cheeks, throat and breast, and also the legs and feet, are clay colour; the under part is spotted with black, brown and white, though these colours do not appear unless the feathers are ruffled. The bill is slightly bent and black, having some resemblance to the bills of the creepers. Both sexes are nearly alike in their plumage. ing to the nature of the ground. Where there are young pines, with branches near the ground, and heath under these, the place is especially favourite, as the pine shuts out the rain almost as completely as a roof. Whether it is the general habit of the bird, we will not pretend to say, because we have intimately studied its economy only in places of a peculiar character; but we never met with a wren's nest under a young pine except on the north or the northeast side. We have not certainly had any personal means of verifying the fact, that the nest is begun at the top and built downward, neither did we ever see one placed at any considerable height above the ground, though they were all, in a way, a sort of dome In Pennsylvania, and the other central states of nests, with a lateral opening, and so concealed in the America, this is a very familiar bird, and one which underwood as not to be readily found. We have finds favour in the eyes of the people, from the vast usually found a few small sticks, but these formed number of insects which it destroys. It builds in only the timbers of the fabrick, the substantial part of hollow trees, or under the projecting eaves of houses, the external nest being moss or lichen, according as but the people often erect boxes on the tops of poles the one or the other was most readily found. The for its accommodation. These are in or near the interiour was copiously lined with feathers, and never garden, in order that the birds may more successfully with wool, which indeed it could not be, as there carry on the war against the caterpillars. "If," says were then no sheep in that part of the country. In the grand historian of the birds of the United States, districts of a different description, the nest, of course," all these conveniences are wanting, he will even varies both in situation and materials; for birds, like put up with an old hat nailed to the weather boards, men, must be contented with such places and mate- with a small hole for entrance; and, if even this be rials as they can command; and it is well for both denied him, he will find some hole, corner, or crethat their Almighty Creator has endowed them with vice about the house, barn, or stable, rather than this flexibility to circumstances. Wrens are prolifick abandon the dwellings of man. In the month of June, birds. We never saw more than from six to eight a man hung his coat under a shed, near the barn; eggs in a nest; but the authorities say that they are two or three days elapsed before he had occasion to sometimes as many as eighteen, and even more, and put it on again; thrusting his arm up the sleeve, he we see no reason for doubting the authorities-though found it completely filled with rubbish as he expressit were very desirable that no such thing as an ed it, and on extricating the whole mass, found it to authority in natural history existed. The eggs are be the nest of a wren completely finished, and lined very small, of a white colour, with the faintest possi- with a large quantity of feathers. In his retreat, be ble pinky tinge over the greater part of their surface, was followed by the little forlorn proprietors, who and a neatly mottled band of rust-coloured dots near scolded him with great vehemence, for thus ruining the larger end. the whole economy of their domestick affairs. twigs with which the outward parts of the nest are constructed are stout and crooked, that they may be!. ter hook into one another, and the hole or entrance is so much shut up to prevent the intrusion of snakes or cats, that it appears almost impossible that the body of the bird could be admitted. Within this, is a layer of fine dead stalks of grass, and lastly feathers." From Wilson's account, and we can have none more accurate, it should seem that the winter wren of America is a smaller bird than the common wren of Europe, though the colours, and all the other particulars, are so nearly the same as to leave but little doubt as to the identity of the species. It is how ever, much more of a migrant, and does not breed in the central states; but that is nothing, as all birds are more migrant in America than Europe. The account of its winter habits, which we shall give in Wilson's own words, would answer equally for our wren. "During his residence here, he frequents the projecting banks of creeks, old roots, decayed logs, small bushes, and rushes near watery places; he even approaches the farmhouse, rambles about the wood hill, creeping among the interstices like a mouse. With tail erect, which is his constant habit, mounted on some projecting point or pinnacle, he sings with great animation. Even in the yards, gardens, and outhouses of the city, he appears familiar and quite at home." According to the same authority, the dimensions are smaller than those of the European wren, but the colours are exactly the The An anecdote of Wilson's with regard to his species is so interesting and so well told, that we cannot resist the temptation of quoting it. "This little bird has a strong antipathy to cats; for, having frequent occasion to glean among the currant bushes, and other shrubbery in the gardens, these lurking enemies of the feathered race often prove fatal to him. A box fixed upon the window of the room where I slept, was taken possession of by a pair of wrens. Already the nest was built, and two eggs laid, when one day, the window being open, as well as the room door, the female wren, venturing too far into the room to reconoitre, was sprung upon by grimalkin, who had planted herself there for the purpose; and, before relief could be given, was destroyed. Curious to see how the survivor would demean himself, I The house wren or summer wren is the Ameri- watched him carefully for several days. At first he can species which alternates with the former, com- sung with great vivacity for an hour or so, but, being when it returns in the spring, and retiring when coming uneasy, went off for half an hour; on his reit comes in the autumn. It arrives in Pennsylvania turn, he chanted again as before, went to the top of in April, and rarely tarries so late as October. It is the house, stable, and weeping willow, that she same. might hear him; but seeing no appearance of her, he returned once more, visited the nest, ventured cautiously into the window, gazed about with suspicious looks, his voice sinking to a low melancholy note, as he stretched his little neck about in every direction. Returning to the box, he seemed for some minutes at a loss what to do, and soon after went off, as I thought, altogether, for I saw no more of him that day. Toward the afternoon of the second day, he again made his appearance, accompanied by a new female, who seemed exceedingly timorous and shy, and who, after great hesitation, entered the box; at this moment the little widower or bridegroom seemed as if he would warble out his very life with ecstacy of joy. After remaining about half a minute in, they both flew off; but returned in a few minutes, and instantly began to carry out the eggs, feathers, and some of the sticks, supplying the place of the two latter with materials of the same sort; and ultimately succeeded in raising a brood of seven young, all of which escaped in safety." of hereditary right to the box in the garden, when at- Many other birds than those which have been enumerated in this sketch are called wrens, some of which are warblers, some creepers, and some belong to other genera. It is very natural, and perhaps unavoidable, to have this general application of the The above, of the perfect truth of which there can- name of a bird with which every one is familiar, to not be the least question, is one of the most curious other birds that are less known, but which resemble in the whole history of animals of whatever class the well-known one more or less in appearance, in they may be; and if one was to build a theory of habits, or in both. From its familiarity in the winthe reasoning powers of animals, perhaps there is no ter, as well as from the peculiarity of its appearance better foundation on which it could be erected; but and its manners, everybody, whose ornithological we have neither room nor inclination for such theo-knowledge extends beyond the house-sparrow and the ries; and therefore, we shall leave the reader to draw goose, knows the common wren, and thus it becomes from the account, of the correctness of which there a very good key to the mere distinguishing of those But when we come can be no doubt, whatever conclusion may be the birds which are called after it. most agreeable to himself; meanwhile we proceed to more accurate knowledge, which depends upon with our notice of the bird, as with that of all other the whole structure and habits of the birds, those irrational animals. popular extensions of the same name are by no means so convenient. We cannot resist quoting a little more of the account of this highly interesting bird, in the description of which Wilson is peculiarly happy. "The immense number of insects which this sociable little bird removes from the garden and fruit trees ought to endear him to every cultivator, even if he had nothing else to recommend him; but his notes, loud, sprightly, tremulous, and repeated every few seconds with great animation, are extremely agreeable. In the heat of summer, families often dine under the piazza, adjoining green canopies of mantling grape-vines, gourds, &c., while over-head the trilling vivacity of the wren, mingled with the warbling mimicry of the cat-bird, and the distant softened sounds of other songsters, form a soul-soothing and almost heavenly musick, breathing peace, innocence, and rural repose. The European who judges of the song of this species by that of his own wren will do injustice to the former, as in strength of tone and execution it is far superiour, as well as the bird is in size, figure, and elegance of marking, to the European one. Its manners are also different; its sociability greater. It is no under-ground inhabitant; its nest is differently constructed, the number of its eggs is fewer; it is also migratory, and has the tail and bill much longer. Its food is insects and caterpillars; and, while supplying the wants of its young, it destroys, on a moderate calculation, many hundred a day, and greatly circumscribes the ravages of these vermin. It is a bold and insolent bird against those of the titmouse or woodpecker kind that venture to build within its jurisdiction, attacking them without hesitation, though twice its size, and generally forcing them to decamp. Even the blue-bird who claims an equal and a sort snow THE SNOW-BUNTING (E. nivalis). THIS bird is known by many popular names, such as the "snow-bunting," "snow-flake," and " bird," and has been sadly in the way of those who do not combine a little knowledge of the principles of ornithology with the mere observation of individual birds. It has got several trivial names expressive of differences of colour; and it has been specifically called a lark, and also a finch. In reality this is a polar bird, and inhabits the arctick zone in both continents, and though not a mountain-top bird, like our ptarmigan, yet subject, from the higher latitudes of which it is a native, to greater extremes of seasons than that, it is also subject to similar changes in its plumage. And further, though it does not migrate very far to the southward, it is a wandering bird; it does not change its plumage so regularly or so completely as the flocks that migrate, as the ptarmigan which summer and winter in the same places do, upon the tops of the mountains, even of the comparatively low latitude. There is something in this well worthy the attention of those who wish to study the adaptation of animals to those circumstances in which they are placed; and if this is not attended to, we name and describe the species, and arrange them into systems, to very little purpose. The mountaineer, whether it be bird or anything else, does not quit its mountains, or at all events it does not range to a very great distance from them, or wholly quit the country in which they are situated; and this holds true of man as well | feathers and the quills, which remain black. It is as of the other animals. It matters not what may be in this state that they are called pied finches, or the part of the world, for if we are anywhere to find snow flakes. The last of these names is very approthe aborigines, we must seek for them in the moun-priate; for although most winter birds come before tains. In the Pyrennees, the Alps, the Caucasus, the storm, they are often taken by it on their way, and and in short every lofty ridge that we can name, we arrive exhausted amid the driving snow, when many find people who have outlived all the changes on the of them perish. plains. While too the animals of the low lying places are driven before the weather, the mountaineers keep their ground, and, to enable them to do so, they of course are much more changed, especially in their covering, than animals which, from their migratory habits, are able to endure the milder climates into which they migrate, without those seasonal adapta tions. When the violence of the polar winter sets in, it of course whelms the pastures of these birds completely under snow. They are, however, very irregular in the periods at which they come on in different years, and also in their violence. Of course the snow-buntings do not leave their native north until the winter comes, that is, till the snow comes, for the clear black frost often continues for a considerable time before the heavy falls of snow. In consequence of this, the snow-buntings appear in the more southerly parts of their range, in very different plumages, according as they come earlier or later, and this seems to be the chief reason why they have got so many names, such as the tawny-bunting, the pied fiuch, the white lark, and several others. Norway, or at least some part of the country to the north of the Baltic, is probably the country from which they generally come to Britain. Their natural flight is in all probability to the south, and the continent of Europe the place on which they would land if they kept their direction. But as the length of the parallel, and with that the falling behind the rotatory motion of the earth, increases, that are turned to the westward in the very same way that the storm is; and thus though the unequal motion both of snow-flakes and of snow is from the north, they really come from the northeast, the motion of the storm giving additional obliquity to that of the birds. The best account of their appearance in Germany (they do not reach the more southerly parts of the "When the continent) is that given by Bechstein. winter is severe," says he, " these birds are seen from December to May, in many parts of Germany, where they even approach the villages. I am persuaded that, if attention were paid to them, they might be seen in every direction during March, on their passage to the north; while the snow is on the ground they are found in company with larks, on the In the summer these birds inhabit the rocks and high roads and in the fields, they may then be taken peat-covered tracts of the extreme north, where they with horsedung placed in a net, or covered with subsist upon the seeds of rushes and other hardy birdlime, or by clearing a spot of ground of snow, plants; and the produced claws on the hind toes and strewing it with oats. I have had a pair in my enable them to run on the soft or moss-covered sur-room six years without a cage, and they are satisfied faces with more facility than they could do if these appendages were short; but in proportion as this structure fits them for walking upon these surfaces, it disqualifies them for perching upon trees. But there are few or no trees in their native country; and when they migrate to the south, they are ground birds rather than perchers. slowly from shrill to deep, and a little strong and broken whistling. Heat is so contrary to their nature, that they cannot be preserved unless carefully guarded from it. with common food for other birds; if kept in a cage, they must be fed on hemp-seed, oats, millet, rape, and poppy-seeds. They appear much delighted whilst bathing: during the night they seem very uneasy, hopping and running about continually. Their strong and piercing cry resembles a loud whistle; their song would be rather agreeable were When they appear upon our shores, they prefer it not interrupted in a peculiar manner; it is a warbthose places which are most of a polar character;ling mingled with some high noisy notes, descending they do not affect the woodlands, neither do they resort to the neighbourhood of houses, or even to the cultivated fields, as is the case with our native birds in the winter. They linger on the cold moors or their margins, and as such places are not very tempting in the season of snow-buntings, it is probable that few are seen in proportion to the numbers which visit the more inhospitable parts of the country. If, however, these are covered up with snow, the birds are driven to the trodden places; and the snowbunting, among the rest, comes in for a share of the droppings of horses, which form a chief source of supply to the birds when the ground is covered. The young of early broods are the first to appear; they are more brown in the colour, have the bill yellower, and are smaller in size than the mature birds, and hence they have been described as a separate species. When very severe snow-storms occur at a late period of the winter, the full-grown males sometimes come to Britain in great numbers, and with their winter plumage nearly perfect. They are then pure white, with the exception of a portion of the back, the middle coverts of the wings, and some of the tail As the winter sets in, large flocks of these birds proceed from the north of the Baltic and distribute themselves over the low country in Poland; but in that longitude their migration extends not further than the Carpathian mountains; and they begin to disappear on their return to the north in February and March. On the American continent they do not advance farther to the south than the state of Virginia. The numbers of them that assemble in the north during the summer season are immense, so much so, as to give a character even to the remotest countries which have been visited. Countless thousands are found on the ice near Spitzbergen: and there are numbers also in Greenland. They breed in the fissures of the rocks. As already hinted, numbers of them frequent the north of Scotland, and some of them are even understood to breed there; and in the Orkney islands they are especially numerous. They are not unknown in England, though we believe they seldom come further to the south A |