| Genus REGULUS, Cw.
GEN. ee Beak very slender, short, straight, slichtl
Pee michtly laciniated totards the % = 8 itly compressed laterally ; the apper
Wings rounded. Tarsus longer than eee boomed 0

FIRE-CRESTED WREN.

Regulus ignicapillus, Briss.

Le Roitelet 4 triple bandeau.

Tae beautiful little birds which compose this genus are distinguished ir diminuti
rich golden crown of their heads, and by the minute b-li seen en ea
so diminutive, they are a courageous, spirited, hard ee oa eae ‘lth
WM fis ceverities of the hardest = om ae active family ; nS even in the cold countries
a, ME a i cibce conten, with a sae habits, food, nidification, the number and colour of
song, and comparatively weak bill indicate their allianc - me ae ce ae Me
Me deck doubt Sicther its_tene ae o the Sylviade, from which combination of characters
leave the reader to form his own conclusions ; ee ee A jae - es pe
WG Pee hasedl ubon the most solid ees gh, for ourselves, we are inclined to consider its alliance

We have, however, to notice a new ae in ee of the pr fami i

Britain, which has been long known as a continental species cen pe i 3 in anaes
we possess for adding this name to the list of British aa ee eo a aoe
testimony of an accurate and attentive observer of nature, the _ ra es ied i ee Pee
bridgeshire, who exhibited a recent specimen (accidental kill a ae ae mace
= y killed near his own residence, ) before the Committee
_ a and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London, at the meeting of the 14th of August
If this bu ae been hitherto overlooked in England, the omission has arisen from its close similarity to the
oon species ; we have therefore figured both in one Plate, that their differences may be more domly <
cented The ee habitat of the Fire-crested Wren appears to be confined to the southern portions of ae
aa oat i abundance in France, Belgium, and the eastern provinces. In its habits, manners, food atl
ne cation, it strictly resembles the Golden-crested Wren, from which it differs in plumage i ie pollo
pout Its crest 1s more fiery ; the sides of the neck and top of the back more tinged with a golden eae
and in the alternate stripes of black and white, which occupy the sides of the face, both above and below the

eye; the under surface is also rather more grey ; its size is the same, or as nearly so as possible.

 

GOLDEN- CRESTED WREN.
Regulus vulgaris, Cuz.
Le Roitelet ordinaire.

ean Birds, and 1s generally dispersed in every region
y regions of the South : in the British Isles it 1s
edgerows, but especially plantations of
ecies of the Tits, particularly Parus
scrutinizing the highest and out-
ely into every

Tun Golden-crested Wren is the smallest of the Europ
e utmost limit of the warm and sultr
t, inhabiting woods, coppices and h
anions with several of the sp
y observed engaged in
to the under surface, prying inquisitiv
uds and small seeds, constitute their food.
which it also sometimes accom-
considerable extent of dis-

from the Arctic circle to th
to be found throughout every distric
Fir and Oak, where they appear to be comp
ceruleus and ater, with which they may be generall
most branches of trees, clinging with ease and dexterity
crevice in search of insects and their larvee, which, with tender b
We have observed that this species, as well as the Long-tailed Titmouse,
t of traversing with a certain degree of order and regularity
ame locality, so as to perform a circuit of
antly repeated as if to keep the family together,
rthia familiaris), as scarcely to be dis-
eason of nidification is plaintive, sweet
feathers,

panies, is in the habi
several miles in the

trict, returning nearly at
course of a single day. Their com
is a weak but shrill cry, so closely resembli
tinguished from it. The song, however, which 1s
and melodious. It constructs a beautiful little rounde
which is artfully suspended on the under surface of a fir
thickest foliage, laying from seven to ten very small eggs of a yel

The plumage of the male is of a uniform olive green on the upp
tail being brown; the secondaries barred with black and white ; the head is
golden crest, with an outward border of black capable of elevation or depr
between the eye and the base of the beak is white, while in the Birecerested Wren t
the whole of the under surface js grey, more oF less tinged with oe

We have figured a male and female of the Golden-crested Wren, an
omitting the female of the latter, as there ‘5 no distinguishing characteristic.

a given time to the s
mon call, which is const
ng that of the Creeper (Ce
poured out at the s
d nest of moss and lichens, warmly lined with
branch, usually near its extremity, and among the

lowish white colour.

er surface, the wing-primari
ornamented with a beautiful silky
the space

es and the

ession at pleasure ;
he same part 1s black ;

; the beak black ; tarsus greenish yellow.

and a male only of the Fire-crested,

+

oy
“i ) 2
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