S. troglodites, Lath. Tern. Motacilla tragiodites, Lin. &e. Troglodites Europeus, Leach. Wren, Common or European Wren. Grey, with the wings waved with black and grey. Length about three inches nine lines; alar stretch nearly six inches; and weight two drachms and three quarters. It inhabits Europe and Asia, and is by no means unfrequent in Great Britain, where it remains throughout the year ; but it is rare in Sweden and Russia, and is said never to penetrate into Siberia. Its song is much admired, being, though short, a very pleasing warble, and much louder than might be expected from the size of the bird. This chant it continues through out the year ; and itwill even sing, with apparent unconcern, during a fall of snow. Its music is also heard late in the evening, though not after dark ; and it is one of the first songsters that is awake in the morning. It readily asso ciates with the red-breasts; but the male wrens are jealous of one another, and solitary in the season of courtship. They feed on small worms, flies, and other little insects and their larva, which they procure in sufficient quantity to support life, even in the severest winters. The wren is a sprightly little bird, sometimes showing itself on a morning on a heap of dried wood, and the next instant entering into it and disappearing : for a moment it may be seen on the edge of the thatch, but quickly conceals itself under it, or in some hole in the wall ; and, as soon as it comes out again, it frisks among the thickest of the neighbouring bushes, always erecting its tail. Its flight is quick and irregular; and it flaps its little wings with such rapidity-, that their vibrations are scarcely percep tible. In winter, it frequents the banks of unfrozen streams, retiring occasionally into the hollow portions of decayed trees, in which no fewer that twenty have some times been found together, as if to keep one another warm. The nest is curiously constructed, and not begun at the bottom, as is commonly the case, but first traced in an oval frame work, and equally fastened in all its parts to a tree, or other and afterwards inclosed on the sides and top, with the exception of a small opening for entrance. If placed under a bank, the top is first begun, and well secured, in some small cavity, from which the fabric is suspended. The materials, too, are gene rally adapted to the nature of the situation; for if built, for example, against the side of a hay-rick, the nest is composed of hay ; if against a tree, covered with lichen, it is made of that sort of moss, Ecc. but is invariably lined with feathers. The number of eggs varies very consider ably, being seldom fevier than seven, nor more than eigh teen. They- arc very small, white, and marked at the larger end with a band of rust-coloured dots. \Vhen the wren approaches our habitations in winter, it seems to be confident, familiar, and even prying and inquisitive; yet it is with difficulty caught, as the smallness of its size, and the nimbleness of its movements, almost always ena ble it to elude the eye and the grasp of its enemies. It is also too delicate to be easily reared in a cage; but the attempt will bet succeed by keeping it warm in the nest, allowing it to eat often, and little at a time, of sheep's or calls heart, minced very small and mixed with flies. When it feeds thus alone, a little corner of the cage should be hemmed in with red cloth, to which it is partial, and under which it may retire at night. When kept alive and healthy by such attentions, it amply repays them by its enlivening sung in winter.
S alba, llotacilla alba and cinerea, Lin. Motacilla albida, Gine]. White Wagtail, or Collared IVagtail, Prov. Water-wagtail, Black and White Water-wagtail, Pied Water-wagtail, Dishwasher, or Washerwoman. Breast black ; the two lateral tail feathers obliquely half-white.
The white wagtail is so generally diffused over the old continent. that it is met with in Europe, Siberia, Africa, and Indostan. Its elegant form, sprightly' manners, and nimble and frisking movements, are familiar to common observation. Its no te is sweet, but feeble, and in autumn
degenerates into a sort of murmur. In flight it moves its tail in a horizontal, and, when on the ground, in a per pendicular direction. These birds run lightly, and with short, but very precipitate steps, along the margins of streams; and their legs admit of their wading into the water to the depth of a few lines; but they more frequently take their station on a stone, or other little elevation. From the numbers which are sometimes seen together resorting to sheep-folds and newly turned up fields, we maypresume that they are gregarious in their flights. In autumn they appear with us in numerous bands, spreading over the country through the day-, and retiring towards evening into the osier holts, and among the willows on the banks of canals and rivers, where they keep up an incessant pet ty chattering till night-fall. Many of them leave us in October, when they may sometimes be heard, passing along, high in the air, their ceaseless chattering being still audible ; and others pass from the northern to the southern parts of the island in winter. In that season they abound in Egypt, Senegal, &c. along with the swallows and quails, re-appearing in the north about the end of March, and penetrating even to the Faroe islands and Iceland. In the breeding season, they seem to prefer pleasure-grounds that are constantly mowed, on which they run unencumbered, and where the insects have not sufficient cover to evade their sight. The nest is found in various situations, as on the ground, under some roots, or the turf of pastures, but more frequently on the sides of streams, among stakes, near rivers, in heaps of stones, in the hole of a wall, or even on the top of a pollard tree. It is composed of dried grass, fibrous roots, and moss, rather carelessly put together, but abundantly lined with feathers and hair. Among the laurels in the Botanic Garden at Upsal, a pair of white wagtails were observed to breed for six successive seasons, and so tame as to appear fearless of the spectators. The eggs are usually from four to six, of a bluish-white, spotted with brown and ash-colour, and resembling those of the cuckoo. Gerardin mentions an instance of a female of this species laying thirty eggs, in consequence of a person withdrawing them gradually from the nest, till pity overcame curio sity, and the poor bird was permitted to hatch the usual number without further molestation. The white wag tail frequently builds twice in the season, and the male relieves his mate, during some hours in the day time, from the cares of incubation. Both parents defend their young with the greatest boldness, flying out on those who approach the nest, and plaguing and hovering about them, so as to insult or scare them. If the invader removes their offspring, they flutter over his head, turning constantly round him, and uttering incessant lamentations. It has been likewise remarked that they tend their brood with the utmost care and solicitude, and carry or every kind of dirtiness to some distance from the nest, a proceeding which has been noticed in regard to some other species of birds, and which may be designed not only to preserve cleanliness, but to keep the nest better concealed. When the new family are capable of flying, both parents still attend and feed them during three weeks or a month, when they wage incessant war on insects, seizing and de vouring them with astonishing promptitude, as if they scarcely allowed themselves time to swallow them. In general, they are far from shy, and they appear to be more apprehensive of birds of prey than of mankind, seldom retiring to any distance, even on the discharge of a fowling-piece, and easily falling into the different snares that are laid for them. The full-grown birds, however, cannot be reared in a cage; and, when confined, usually die in the course of twenty-four hours; but the nestlings may be domesticated, if trained like young nightingales. In Egypt, these birds are said to be preserved for the table by being dried in sand.