Part 44

Most members of this family inhabit the northern parts of the Eastern Hemisphere, some few belong to North America, and others are natives of Asia and Africa. Opinions differ as to whether they migrate at the approach of winter, but our own observations have convinced us that even those frequenting northern countries never wander to any great distance from their native haunts. All are social in their habits, and consort not only with their own kind, but also seek the company of other species, often remaining in their society for weeks at a time. They seldom visit seed-growing districts, but frequent woods and forests, living almost exclusively upon trees or large shrubs, climbing and flying about the branches in what may literally be termed an incessant search for food. On the ground their movements are clumsy, and they seldom undertake long excursions, but generally only flit from one tree to another, feeding principally upon insects and seeds; of the former they devour enormous quantities, as their life of restless activity renders an unusually large supply of nourishment indispensable. The Tits may, therefore, be regarded as valuable assistants to the gardener and farmer, richly meriting their favour and protection. Most species breed twice in the year, laying each time from seven to twelve eggs.

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The CRESTED WRENS or KINGLETS (_Regulus_) are recognisable by their straight, thin, finely-pointed beak, which is broad at the base, raised at the culmen, and slightly notched at the curved tip of the upper mandible. The feet are slender, the tarsi high, and the claws very decidedly hooked; the wings, in which the fourth and fifth quills are the longest, are short, broad, and much rounded; the tail is of medium size, and incised at its extremity; the plumage is thick, and composed of large, loose feathers; the nostrils are covered with small feathers, and the corners of the mouth with a few bristle-like hairs; the feathers on the crown of the head are generally prolonged into a crest, and are of brilliant hue. These birds are met with throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, and from time to time make their appearance in North-western Africa.

Their journeys are extraordinary when compared with their strength, size, and powers of flight, but they are often exhausted before arriving at their destination. Mr. Selby has related the following account of a large migration on the coast of Northumberland in 1822:--

"On the 24th and 25th of October, 1822, after a very severe gale, with thick fog from the north-east (but veering, towards its conclusion, to the east and south-east), thousands of these birds were seen to arrive upon the sea-shore and sand-banks of the Northumbrian coast, many of them so fatigued by the length of their journey, or perhaps by the unfavourable shift of wind, as to be unable to rise again from the ground, and great numbers were in consequence caught or destroyed. This flight must have been immensely numerous, as its extent was traced through the whole length of the coasts of Northumberland and Durham. There appears little doubt of this having been a migration from the more northern provinces of Europe (probably furnished by the pine forests of Norway, Sweden, &c.), from the circumstance of its arrival being simultaneous with that of large flights of the Woodcock, Fieldfare, and Redwing. Although I had never before witnessed the actual arrival of the Golden-crested Regulus, I had long felt convinced, from the great and sudden increase of the species during the autumnal and hiemal months, that our indigenous birds must be augmented by a body of strangers, who make these shores their winter resort."

THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN.

The GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN (_Regulus cristatus_, _flavicapillus_, or _auricapillus_) is yellowish green on the mantle, and light grey beneath; the throat is whitish grey; the crown of the head is saffron yellow, its sides golden yellow, decorated with a black stripe; the wings are enlivened by two light-coloured bands. In the plumage of the female all the tints are duller, and the yellow on the head paler than in her mate. The young are entirely without the bright colouring on the head. This species is three inches and two-thirds long, and five inches and five-sixths broad. The wing measures one inch and five-sixths, and the tail an inch and a half. The Golden-crested Wren is the only member of this family found in Scandinavia, and it also breeds as far south in Europe as Greece, but is seldom seen in Spain. Notwithstanding the apparent delicacy of these birds, they are capable of sustaining an unusual degree of cold, and great numbers pass the entire winter in the pine forests of Sweden. In England and Ireland they also remain throughout the whole year, but we are told that those living in the Orkneys wander as far as the Shetland Isles when the cold sets in. A most extraordinary circumstance that took place in 1823 is related in the Memoranda of the Wernerian Society, namely, the total disappearance of the whole race of these birds, natives as well as strangers, throughout Scotland and the north of England. This happened towards the end of January, a few days previous to the continued snowstorm that was felt so severely in the northern counties of England and the eastern parts of Scotland. The range and route of this migration are unascertainable, but it was most probably a distant one, from the fact of not a pair having returned to breed or pass the succeeding summer in the situations they had been known always to frequent; nor was one of this species to be seen till the following October, about the usual time for our receiving an annual accession of strangers to our indigenous birds. Like their congeners, these tiny, delicate Wrens principally frequent fir and pine forests, about the branches of which they scramble with wonderful agility, hanging head downwards from the twigs, or darting like meteors from branch to branch, in a restless and incessant search for the insects upon which they subsist. Their voice is gentle and twittering, and their song occasionally uttered as they hover in the air over a bush or shrub. During the period of incubation, which frequently commences as early as February, the males endeavour to attract the attention of their future partners by spreading the beautiful crest upon their heads, and indulging in a variety of animated and excited movements, as they hop or fly about the spot where the desired mate is perching. The nest is spherical, usually placed at the extremity of a branch, beautifully constructed of moss or lichen, and in most instances snugly lined with feathers, cotton wool, or down from plants. The eggs, from six to ten in number, have a pale reddish white or yellowish white shell, finely spotted with red, and are scarcely larger than peas, not exceeding six lines in length, and five in diameter. So voracious are the young, that Colonel Montague observed the mother come thirty-six times in an hour with morsels for her craving family, and continue her labours without intermission for sixteen hours in the day. Mr. Selby tells us that he has seen fully-fledged young by the end of April.

THE DALMATIAN WREN.

The DALMATIAN WREN (_Regulus modestus_).--"The only history of this bird," says Mr. Gould, "that we have been able to collect was that written on the label attached to it by the Baron de Feldegg, of Frankfort, which is as follows:--'I shot this bird, which on dissection proved to be a male, in Dalmatia, in the year 1829.' We were informed, at the same time, that it was not known to any German ornithologists, and, consequently, had not received a specific title. This we have ventured to give, and suggest the term _modestus_, in allusion to its chaste plumage and the absence of the crest, which forms so conspicuous a feature in other species of this genus. Its most conspicuous characters are the three yellow stripes which ornament the head; the brighter and most highly coloured of these marks, contrary to what obtains in any other _Reguli_, being that over each eye, while the coronal stripe is palest, and consists of feathers similar in length to those which cover the rest of the head. With the exception of the stripes on the head, the whole of the upper surface is delicate olive green, becoming abruptly paler on the rump; the quills and tail are brown, edged with pale yellow, which is more conspicuous on the secondaries; two transverse bands of the same colour cross the shoulders. The whole of the under surface is pale greenish white; bill and tarsi brown."

THE FIRE-CRESTED WREN.

The FIRE-CRESTED WREN (_Regulus ignicapillus_, or _Regulus pyrocephalus_) is readily distinguished from the bird above described by a black stripe that passes across and a white stripe that passes over the eyes. The crown of the head is fiery red, and bright-flame yellow at its sides, surrounded by a black line, which is broader than that on the Golden-crested Wren. The two species are almost alike in size. The Fire-crested Wren is met with in France, Germany, Italy, Greece, and Spain, and has been seen, although very rarely, in England. In most of the above-mentioned countries it only appears during its wanderings, but is known to breed in Greece. Such of these birds as inhabit Europe closely resemble the species above described in their movements and habits.

According to Jerdon, "the Himalayan Fire Crest is very like the _Regulus ignicapillus_ of Europe, but is larger, and has the flame-coloured crest more developed. The Himalayan Fire-crested Wren has only been found in the North-western Himalayas, and even there, apparently, it is not very common."

THE SATRAP WREN.

The SATRAP-CROWNED WREN (_Regulus satrapa_), a North American species nearly resembling its European congeners, is brownish grey upon the back, and greyish white upon the under side; the breast is shaded with brownish yellow, the eyes are encircled by a greyish white ring, and the head decorated on each side with a black band, edged with bright yellow, and with a broad fiery red stripe across the crown; the quills and feathers of the wing-covers are dusky, the former edged and the latter tipped with greenish yellow; the eye is brown, the beak black, and the feet brownish yellow. The bird is four inches long and seven broad.

Of the American Fire-crested Wren, or Fiery-crowned Knight, Nuttall writes as follows:--"The _Regulus tricolor_ (or _Regulus satrapa_) appears associated only in pairs, which are seen on their southern route, in this part of Massachusetts, a few days in October, and about the middle of the month, or a little earlier or later according to the setting in of the season, as they appear to fly before the desolating storms of the northern regions, whither they retire about May to breed. Some of these birds remain in Pennsylvania until December or January; proceeding, probably, but little further south during the winter. They are not known to reside in any part of New England, but retire to the same remote and desolate limits of the farther north with an allied species, of which they have most of the habits. They are actively engaged during their transient visits to the south in gleaning up insects and their lurking larvæ, for which they perambulate the branches of trees of various kinds, frequenting gardens and orchards, and skipping and vaulting from the twigs, sometimes head downwards, like the Chicadee, with whom they often keep company, making only now and then a feeble chirp. They appear at this time to search chiefly after spiders and dormant concealed coleopterous or other insects; they are also said to feed on small berries and some kinds of seeds, which they break open by pecking with the bill in the manner of the Titmouse. They likewise frequent the sheltered cedar and pine woods, in which they probably take up their roost at night. Early in April they are seen on their return to the north in Pennsylvania. At this time they dart among the blossoms of the maple and elm, in company with others of their race, and appear more volatile and actively engaged in seizing small flies on the wing, and collecting minute lurking caterpillars from the opening leaves. On the 21st of May, 1835, I observed this species feeding its full-fledged young in a tall pine tree on the banks of the Columbia river."

"If we compare the American Golden-crest Wren with the European, we find that they agree in general appearance, in the proportional length of the quills and in the form of the tail, as well as in that of the bill and legs. Their differences are the following:--

"_Regulus tricolor_ is longer by half an inch than _Regulus cristatus_, its bill is stronger and one-twelfth of an inch shorter, its claws are also stronger and shorter, and the flame-coloured patch on the head is more extended and brighter. The European species never has so much grey on the neck and back, and its lower parts are always more tinged with brownish yellow. The other differences are not very obvious; but the difference in the size of the bill, were there no other characteristics, would be enough, in a family of birds so closely resembling each other as the _Reguli_, to point out the American as distinct from the European species.

"On the 23rd of January," continues the same writer, "I saw great numbers of these birds in the woods near Charlestown, searching for food high in the trees as well as low down, and so careless of us, that, although we would approach within a few feet of them, they were not in the least disconcerted. Their feeble chirp was constantly repeated. We killed a great number of them, in hopes of finding among them some individuals of the species known under the name of _Regulus ignicapillus_, but in this we did not succeed. At times they uttered a strong querulous note, somewhat resembling that of the Black-headed Titmouse. The young had acquired their full plumage, but the females were more abundant than the males. At this season the yellow spot on their head is less conspicuous than towards spring, when they raise their crest-feathers while courting. The young, shot in Newfoundland, in August, had this part of the head of a uniform tint with that of the body. With us they are amazingly fat, but at Newfoundland we found them the reverse."

"The Satrap Wren," says Audubon, "breeds in Labrador, where I saw it feeding its young in August, when the species appeared already moving southward; but although it was common there and in Newfoundland, as was the Ruby-crowned Knight, we did not succeed in our search for its nest. It enters the United States late in September, and continues its journey beyond their limits, as I have met with it on the borders of our most southern districts during winter. Individuals remain in all the Southern and Western States the whole of that season, and leave them again about the beginning of March. They generally associate in groups, composed each of a whole family, and feed in company with Titmice, Nuthatches, and Brown Creepers, perambulating the tops of trees and bushes, sometimes in the very depth of the forests or of the most dismal swamps, while at other times they approach the plantations and enter the gardens and yards. Their movements are always extremely lively and playful. They follow minute insects on the wing, seize them among the leaves of the pines, or search for larvæ in the chinks of the branches. Like the Titmice, they are often seen hanging to the extremities of twigs and bunches of leaves, sometimes fluttering in the air in front of them, and are unceasingly occupied. They have no song at this season, but merely emit now and then a low _screep_."

THE RUBY-CROWNED WREN.

The RUBY-CROWNED WREN (_Regulus calendulus_) is four inches long and six in extent of wing; the upper parts of the head, neck, and back are olive, with a considerable tinge of yellow; wings and tail dusky purplish brown, exteriorly edged with yellow olive; secondaries and first row of wing-coverts edged and tipped with white, with a spot of deep purplish brown across the secondaries, just below their coverts; the hinder part of the head is ornamented with an oblong lateral spot of vermilion, usually almost hid by the other plumage; round the eye a ring of yellowish white; whole under parts of the same tint; legs dark brown, feet and claws yellow, bill slender, straight not notched, furnished with a few black hairs at the base; inside of the mouth orange. The female differs very little in its plumage from the male, the colours being less lively, and the bird somewhat less.

"This little bird," says Wilson, "is an American species, visits us early in the spring from the south, and is generally first found among the maple blossoms about the beginning of April; these failing, it has recourse to those of the peach, apple, and other fruit trees, partly for the tops of the sweet and slender stamina of the flowers, and partly for the winged insects that hover among them. In the middle of summer I have rarely met with these birds in Pennsylvania; and as they penetrate as far north as the country round Hudson's Bay, and also breed there, it accounts for their late arrival here in fall. They then associate with the different species of Titmouse and the Golden-crested Wren, and are particularly numerous in the month of October and beginning of November, in orchards, among the decaying leaves of the apple-trees, that at that season are infested with great numbers of small, black-winged insects, among which they make a great havoc. I have often regretted the painful necessity one is under of taking the lives of such inoffensive, useful little creatures, merely to obtain a more perfect knowledge of the species, for they appear so busy, so active and unsuspecting, as to continue searching about the same twig, even after their companions have been shot down beside them. They are more remarkably so in autumn, which may be owing to the great number of young and inexperienced birds which are then among them; and frequently at this season I have stood under the tree, motionless, to observe them, while they gleaned among the low branches, sometimes within a foot or two of my head. They are extremely adroit in catching their prey, have only at times a feeble chirp, visit the tops of the tallest trees as well as the lowest bushes, and continue generally for a considerable time among the branches of the same tree, darting about from place to place; appearing, when on the top of a high maple, no bigger than humble-bees."

"Notwithstanding all my endeavours," continues our author, "I have never been able to discover their nest, though, from the circumstance of having found them sometimes here in summer, I am persuaded that they occasionally breed in Pennsylvania, but I know several birds no larger than this that usually breed on the extremities of the tallest trees in the woods, which I have discovered from their beginning before the leaves are out; many others, no doubt, choose similar situations, and, should they delay building until the woods are thickened with leaves, it is no easy matter to discover them. In fall they are so extremely fat, as almost to dissolve between the fingers as you open them, owing to the great abundance of their favourite insects at that time."

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The PENDULINE TITMICE (_Ægithalus_) are small, slenderly-formed birds, with awl-shaped beaks, scarcely perceptibly curved at the tip; short, blunt wings, in which the third, fourth, and fifth quills are the longest, and nearly of equal length; and moderate-sized tails, slightly incised at the extremity. The plumage is very lax, and the males more brightly and beautifully coloured than the females. The young differ in their appearance from both parents.

THE TRUE PENDULINE TITMOUSE.

The TRUE PENDULINE TITMOUSE (_Ægithalus pendulinus_) is greyish red on the upper part of its body, on the under side whitish, shaded with rust-red on the breast; a black stripe, beginning at the cheeks, passes across the eyes to the region of the ear; the quills and tail-feathers are blackish, with light borders; the eye is brown, the beak of various shades of black, whitish at its margins; the feet are black or greyish black. The female is more dusky, and has less black upon the brow and sides of the head than her mate. In the young the black cheek-stripes are not indicated. The upper portion of the body is reddish grey. This species is from four inches to four and a half long, and from six to six and a half broad; the wing measures two inches and a quarter, and the tail one inch and three-quarters.

These elegant little birds inhabit all the eastern parts of Europe and a large portion of Asia, and their active, sprightly demeanour entitles them to a place among the most interesting members of the family to which they belong. From morning to night they are almost incessantly in motion, climbing nimbly among the reeds, or bopping from twig to twig, in search of the insects and larvæ upon which they subsist. They generally, however, keep well sheltered beneath the foliage, where their presence is constantly betrayed by the frequent utterance of their clear, chirping note. Whether this species migrates is as yet undecided; it is, nevertheless, certain that it disappears from its native haunts about September or October, and does not return until March.

"Proverbial as the nests of the Tits are for beauty of structure," says Mr. Gould, "none are more remarkable and curious than that of the present species; it is constructed of the soft down of the poplar or willow, and this substance, which closely resembles cotton wool, is woven together with admirable ingenuity, so as to form a flask-shaped nest with a lateral opening into the internal chamber. It is suspended at the extremity of a drooping branch of a willow, or any similar tree hanging over the water."

We are indebted to Baldamus not only for a very complete description of the remarkable nest made by these birds, but also for a detailed account of the mode of building it. "I have had an opportunity," writes that naturalist, "of watching during seven weeks the daily operations of a pair of these ingenious little builders, and have carefully examined upwards of thirty nests." He observed, moreover, the whole process of their construction, and procured several in different stages of completion. The situation chosen was generally in the vicinity of a swamp, and the nests were almost invariably suspended to the innermost twigs of the branches of a willow tree, usually at an elevation of twelve or fourteen feet from the ground, although some were at a height of from twenty to thirty feet, and one example was obtained from the very summit of a high tree.

In building these admirable structures the two sexes seem to emulate each other in industry and perseverance, for without this, it is difficult to conceive how such an edifice can be completed in the short space of about fourteen days.