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REGULUS HI MALAYENSIS, Byyea.
Himalayan Golderest.

Regulus cristatus, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. C

alcutta, p. 186. —v. Pelz. Ibis, 1868, p. 308
“Regulus Himalayensis, Blyth,” Jerd. Birds of India vol — |

.U. part i. p. 206.

 

ryy ~) . a
Duar the avifauna of India should be destitute of a member of the ce
aol

nus Regulus could not have been even
suspected, since the form occurs in Asia Minor on the west

, and in Amoorland and Japan on the east. It
is strictly a northern genus, no species being found to the southward of the equator. In the New World two

species occur, one, #. satrapa, in North America, and the other, R. (Reguloides) calendula, in Mexico. In
the Old World we find R. wrcapillus, R. cristatus, and R. Maderensis, the two former of which are spread
over Europe and North Africa, while the third appears to be confined to the island of Madeira. The five
birds above mentioned are regarded as true and distinct species by every ornithologist, while that repre-
sented on the opposite Plate (22. Himalayensis) and the R. Japonicus of Bonaparte are considered to be of
questionable specific value. Now, as I have before me specimens of 2. cristatus collected in England and
France, of /?. Juponicus from the island whence it derives its name, and a fine male specimen from the
Himalayas, I will point out the differences, slight or otherwise, which I find to exist among these distantly
located examples. As is the case with many other nearly allied species of Europe and Japan, the Regul
inhabiting those countries very closely assimilate, while they differ from the bird found in the Himalayas, the
latter beimg considerably larger in size, having longer wings, and the centre of the crest of a paler hue, or not
so intensely orange as in either of its congeners; in every other part of their plumage all three are very
similar. After this brief notice of the little difference which really exists between 2. cris/atus, R. Japonicus,

and &. Himalayensis, ornithologists must form their own opinion as to whether they are really three distinct,

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or only one and the same species. Those who take the latter view will hold that the 7. crzstatus ranges

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over the greater part of the Old World, from Ireland to Japan; and this may be the true state of the case:

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whether it be or be not, it becomes my duty to give a place to the Himalayan Goldcrest in ‘The Birds of

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. . 7. fe ae ° sees — . ie cL
Asia.” I close these remarks with stating my _beliet that if a number of European, Himalayan, and

Japanese specimens were mingled together, a competent ornithologist w ould have no difficulty in deciding

to which country each belonged. The admeasurements of birds cannot be depended upon; but I repeat that
I find the Himalavan bird to be larger than that of Japan, which, again, somewhat exceeds the size of the
favourite little Goldcrest of Europe.
Of the R. Himalayensis very little 1s known; Mr. Jerdon merely mentions that it is “very like the
) d the flame-c -ed interior of the crest more developed.
Regulus cristatus, but larger, and the flame-coloured interior of the crest more |
iy : Y' If 7 al: oye! Ave pe ss on
«© The Himalayan Fire-crested Wren has only been found in the N. W. Himalayas, and, even there, appa
rently not very common.” —
Von Pelzeln in bis paper on “ Birds from Thibet and the Himalayas,” after mentioning that Dr. Stoliezka

: : z : : arial c ees + careful comparison has convinced me of the
met with the bird at Kotegurh in winter, remarks, ‘most careful pe é

oe
specific identity of the European and Asiatic birds.

een, becoming somewhat yellow on the rump
above which is a streak of black ; centre of the crown yellowish

i , and more grey on the under surface ;

General colour olive-gr

lores erey; superciliary stripe brown, re
ad ‘th paler yellow; lesser and greater wing-coverts yellowish white, forming

orange, bordered externally with paler ye : les 8 2

primaries dark brown, margined e

| black ; feet brownish flesh-colour.

i xternally with olive, and with a black spot
two bands across the wing ; ? ;
at the base of the sixth, seventh, and eighth ; bil
Total length 3% inches, bill 2, wing 2+, tail lis, tarsi 4.
The figures are somewhat less than the natural size.