Sylvia rufa, BECHSTEIN; La Fauvette rousse, BUFFON; Der
Weidenzeisig, BECHSTEIN.
This and the gold-crested wren are the smallest of our European birds.
The full-grown male has the bill a third of an inch in length, very
narrow, and pointed; of a blackish brown, except at the edges and
within, where it is yellow. The iris is dusky brown. From the base of
the bill on each side there runs a narrow yellowish white streak, and
there is another straight streak of a dusky yellow over the eye. The
sides of the head are of a very clear brown. The upper part of the head,
neck, and back, are greyish brown, with a slight tinge of olive. The
throat is greyish white; the breast light grey, with a very pale tinge
of red, or rather rust brown. The belly is greyish white, with faint
yellowish streaks.
The females and the young males, before the first moult, have the upper
parts of a clear olive green, and the under parts reddish white.
I have never met with the nest; but it is said to be built on the ground
amongst fallen leaves, domed, with a side entrance, and lined with
feathers. The eggs are said to be from four to seven, white, with
reddish black dots, most crowded at the larger end.
The young branchers may be caught in autumn by means of the owl, with
limed twigs, and fed on ant's eggs and small meal-worms. They will also
soon take to bread and milk, or German paste, and become exceedingly
tame, but are very impatient of cold.
It is most probably a native of Britain, like the preceding; but is not
yet distinctly proved to be so.