year. These birds are so common in Kent, that they are sometimes seen in flocks of twenty or more, frequenting the pea-fields, and are said to do much damage. Their stay with us seldom exceeds more than four or five months, during which time they pair, build their nests, breed, and rear their young; which are strong enough to join them in their retreat.

THE GOLDFINCH.

THIS bird, which is too well known to need a particular description, is universally esteemed, both for the melody of its note and the beauty of its colours. It is of a gentle nature; soon becomes reconciled to captivity, and may be easily taught a variety of entertaining tricks; there being few birds of equal intelligence and docility. When in solitude it takes great delight in viewing its own image in a mirror. It is sometimes called the Thistlefinch, from its fondness for the seeds of that plant. The female generally builds in fruit trees, and lays five eggs of a white colour, speckled and marked with a reddish brown. The nest is admirably constructed; the outside consisting of moss interwoven with other materials; and the inside being lined with wool, feathers, and down.

THE WREN.

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THIS Lilliputian songster is a native of every part of Europe. It weighs only three drachms, is but four inches in length, from the point of the bill to the end of the tail, and is admired for the loudness of its note, compared with the little body whence it issues. It will carol forth its strains unconcerned during a fall of snow. Even when confined in a cage it has sometimes been known to sing as strong as in its native fields, and with equal freedom and mellowness of song. It commonly creeps about hedges or trees, in the vicinity of farmyards, and sings very late in the evening, though not, like the nightingale, after the landscape is enveloped with darkness.-The female lays from ten to eighteen eggs, which are very small, white, and sprinkled with red spots.

The Wren constructs its nest in a very curious man

ner.

Unlike other birds, it does not begin first at the bottom. If the nest be placed against a bank it commences the fabric at the top; if against a tree, it at the outset traces the outline on the bark, and closes the sides and top in succession. When it builds against a hayrick, the exterior of the nest is of that material;

when it is on the side of a tree covered with white lichen, or green moss, the fabric is of one or other of those substances; but the interior is uniformly lined with feathers.

THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN.

THIS is the smallest of all British birds, is very beautiful, and has an extremely delicate and pleasing note, somewhat less loud than that of the Common Wren. In winter it may be distinguished by its shrill squeak, which somewhat resembles the cricking of a grasshopper. It is very agile, and is almost constantly in motion, either fluttering from branch to branch, creeping on all sides of the trees, clinging to them in all ways, and often hanging with its back downward, like a titmouse. Insects and their eggs, small worms, and various kinds of seeds, constitute its food. The female lays from ten to eighteen eggs, which are scarcely larger than peas; and the nest is frequently formed amongst the leaves at the top of the branch of a fir tree, where, in high winds, it swings like a pendulum.

Of this Wren the head and upper part are of a deep reddish brown; the back, and the coverts of the wings and tail are marked with slender transverse black lines; the quill feathers are barred with black and red; the belly and sides are crossed with narrow dusky and pale reddish brown lines; the tail is crossed with dusky bars; the throat is a yellowish white; and there is a stroke of white above each eye.

The WILLOW WREN is a native of the northern snowy parts of Europe, and almost rivals the nightingale in the sweetness of its song, which it pours forth from the loftiest branches of the birch tree. It visits England about the middle of April, and departs at the end of September.

THOUGH the Redbreast is generally admired for his song, he is still more admired for his attachment to, and confidence in, mankind. In all countries, he is a favourite, and has what may be called a pet name. The inhabitants of Bornholm call him Tommi Liden, the Norwegians, Peter Ronsmed, the Germans, Thomas Gierdet, and in our country he is known as Robin Redbreast, or by the still more familiar appellation of Bob. Buffon describes with his usual elegance the winter manners of this bird. "In that season," says he," they visit our dwellings, and seek the warmest and most sheltered situations; and if any one happens still to continue in the woods, it becomes the companion of the faggot maker, cherishes itself at his fire, pecks at his bread, and flutters the whole day round him, chirping its slender pip. But when the cold grows more severe, and thick snow covers the ground, it approaches our houses, and taps at the windows with its bill, as if to entreat an asylum, which is cheerfully granted; and it repays the favour by the most amiable familiarity, gathering the crumbs from the table, distinguishing affectionately the people of the house, and assuming a warble, not indeed so rich as that in

the spring, but more delicate. This it retains through all the rigours of the season; to hail each day the kindness of its host, and the sweetness of its retreat." The bill of the Robin is slender and delicate; its eyes are large, dark, and expressive, and its aspect mild; its head and all the upper parts of its body are brown, tinged with a greenish olive; the neck and breast are of a fine deep reddish orange; a spot of the same colour marks its forehead: its belly is whitish, and the legs and feet of a dusky black. It is near six inches in length from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, the former being about half an inch, and the latter two inches and a half.

This bird, in our climate, has the sweetest song of all others: the notes of other birds are, indeed, louder, and their inflections more capricious; but the Redbreast's voice is soft, tender, and well supported; and the more to be valued as we enjoy it the greatest part of the winter.

During the spring, the Robin haunts the wood, the grove, and the garden, and retires to the thickest and shadiest hedgerows to breed in, where its nest is usually placed among the roots of trees, in some concealed spot near the ground. In winter it endeavours to support itself, by chirping round the warm habitations of mankind, and by coming into those shelters where the rigour of the season is artificially expelled, and where insects are found in the greatest numbers, attracted by the same cause. The female lays from five to seven eggs, of a dull white colour, diversified with reddish streaks. Insects and worms are the principal food of the Redbreast. The latter it very dexterously renders fit to be eaten, by taking hold of the extremity of one in its beak, and beating it against the ground till the inside comes away, and then repeating the operation with the other end, till the outer part is entirely cleansed.