Biography of the Gold-crested Kinglet. 589 



which contains the tits, is an unpardonable offence of this 

 kind : the nest of the longtail is crammed in a corner amidst 

 artificial plants, as if built on the ground, giving an un- 

 ornithological person quite an erroneous impression. Truth 

 should not be sacrificed to effect. Also in the collection of 

 nests, very little attention appears to be paid to exactitude. 

 One labelled " sparrow " is as unlike a sparrow's nest as any 

 nest I have ever seen ; but the eggs evidently belong to that 

 bird. The same may be said of the pied wagtail's nest and 

 e ggs. 



Authors have recorded several varieties of the goldcrest. 

 Montagu says, " a pair of these birds, in the collection of 

 Mr. Luscome of Kingsbridge, were of a cream colour, with 

 the usual yellow crown." (Orn. Diet., 2d edit. p. 205.) Tem- 

 minck mentions a still more remarkable variety : — " Des 

 varietes accidentelles ont le sommet de la t£te d'un bleu azure; 

 d'autres, moins rares, ont la tete et une partie du plumage de 

 couleur blanchatre: souvent les plumes de la huppe sont d'un 

 jauneli vide." (Man. d'Orn., 2d edit, i.p.230.) [" Some ac- 

 cidental varieties have the top of the head of an azure-blue; 

 others, less rare, have the head and a part of the plumage of 

 a whitish colour : oftentimes the feathers of the crest are of a 

 livid yellow."] According to Stephens, there is a specimen 

 of a white variety of the goldcrest in the British Museum. 



Three species of kinglet are known to inhabit North 

 America; the ruby-crested kinglet (#egulus calendulus 

 Vieil.\ the tricoloured kinglet (R. tricolor Nuttall), and the 

 carbuncle kinglet (R. carbunculus Bonaparte), All three are 

 described in the Ornithological Biography ; a work which as 

 much eclipses all other ornithological works in floridness of 



female golden oriole (Oriolus Galbula Lin.), wood shrike (Lanius rutilus 

 Lath.), marsh hoopoe (£/ v pupa i^pops Lin.), black woodpecker (Z J icus 

 martius ; this extremely rare bird is set in exactly the same attitude as 

 that shown in the figure in Gould's beautiful work, the Birds of Europe), 

 crested tit (Par us cristatus Aid.), bearded pinnoc (Calamophilus biar- 

 micus Leach), pippin crossbill (Crucirdstra malus W.), pine thickbill 

 (Densir6stra enucleator W.), turtle dove (Peristera TYirtur Boje), wood 

 grous ('jfetrao arborea W.), collared pratincole (Glareola torquata Meyer), 

 bearded bustard (0 N tis tarda Lin.), field busternell (Terax campestris 

 Leach), cream-coloured swiftfoot (Cursorius IsabelhWs Meyer), white 

 pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), cinereous crane (Grus cinerea Bcch.), 

 red lobefoot (Lobipes fusca Cuv.). For several of these, the swiftfoot, in 

 particular, a large sum was given. Those who delight in gorgeous colours 

 and elegant forms will find ample gratification in a choice and beautiful 

 display of foreign birds. There are also insects, stones, shells, skeletons, 

 &c. 



[Additional means of information on the scope and character of Weaver's 

 museum are given in V. 546—548. 668, 669. 749—753.; VI. 136.] 



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