They will soon grow tame enough to eat out of the hand. On account of their delicacy, many often die before a person succeeds in rearing one; but when once accustomed to the house they will live a long time, at least if not hurt by other birds, and if they do not swallow what they cannot digest.
Attractive Qualities.—The smallness of their size, their elegance and beauty, render them a pleasant acquisition; but their song adds to their attractions, for though weak it is very melodious, and resembles that of the canary.
THE HON. AND REV. W. HERBERT’T ACCOUNT OF THE GOLD-CRESTED WREN.
The golden-crested wren and the common brown wren are both very impatient of cold. In confinement, the least frost is immediately fatal to them. In a wild state they keep themselves warm by constant active motion in the day, and at night they secrete themselves in places where the frost cannot reach them; but I apprehend that numbers do perish in severe winters. I once caught half a dozen golden wrens at the beginning of winter, and they lived extremely well upon egg and meat, being exceedingly tame. At roosting time there was always a whimsical conflict amongst them for the inside places, as being the warmest, which ended of course by the weakest going to the wall. The scene began with a low whistling call amongst them to roost, and the two birds on the extreme right and left flew on the backs of those in the centre, and squeezed themselves into the middle. A fresh couple from the flanks immediately renewed the attack upon the centre, and the conflict continued till the light began to fail them. A severe frost in February killed all but one of them in one night, though in a furnished drawing-room. The survivor was preserved in a little cage by burying it every night under the sofa cushions; but having been one sharp morning taken from under them before the room was sufficiently warmed by the fire, though perfectly well when removed, it was dead in ten minutes. The nightingale is not much more tender of cold than a canary bird. The golden-crowned wren very much frequents spruce fir trees and cedars, and hangs its nest under their branches; it is also fond of the neighbourhood of furze bushes, under which it probably finds warm refuge from the cold. The brown wren is very apt in frosty weather to roost in cow-houses, where the cattle keep it warm.
THE ALPINE WARBLER.
Sturnus collaris, Linnæus; Motacilla Alpina, Linnæus; La Fauvette des Alpes, Buffon; Der Alpensänger, Bechstein.
The characteristics of this bird are so equivocal that it is sometimes ranked with the larks, sometimes with the starlings, and sometimes with the Motacillæ. It is six inches and a half in length, but the tail alone measures nearly three. The beak is six lines, and is dark brown above and orange beneath; the mandibles are flattish at the sides; the iris is yellow; the shanks are an inch high, and pale brown; a whitish ash grey predominates on the head, neck, and back, but the latter is streaked with dark brown, the others with pale brown.
The female and young ones are variegated with dark brown on the belly; the back is dark, and the spots on the throat less apparent.
Observations.—This species frequents the secondary mountains of Switzerland and southern Germany, and is as common there as the field larks on our plains[107]. In winter it descends into the valleys, and approaches villages and barns, around which these birds may be caught, in as great numbers as yellowhammers. They are generally seen on the ground, running as swiftly as the wagtail, and will sometimes hop on stones, but rarely perch on trees.