FIRE-CROWNED KINGLET. 417 



the eye, the latter succeeded by a broader black band, meeting 

 its fellow on the anterior part of the forehead, and enclosing a 

 set of silken feathers of a bright yellowish-red or orange colour, 

 more intense than that of the preceding species, and similarly 

 margined with pale yellow. The quills and tail-feathers are 

 dusky, margined with yellowish-green ; the secondary coverts 

 are tipped with greyish-white, and there is a conspicuous 

 brownish-black patch on the wing, the base of six of the outer 

 secondaries and inner primaries being of that colour. 



Length to end of tail 3j^| inches ; bill along the ridge j*| ; 

 wing from flexure 2/^ ; tail l^f ; tarsus /^ ; hind toe y|, its 

 claw /g ; middle toe j^, its claw ^^|. 



Female. — The female resembles the male, from which it 

 differs in having the orange crest much paler, and the dusky 

 streaks on the sides of the head fainter. 



Habits. — This sjiecies having been met with only four or 

 five times in England, its habits have not been observed with 

 us. On the continent, it is migratory, although it is said to be 

 sometimes met with in France during the winter. Its habits 

 and food are described as similar to those of the Golden-crested 

 Kinglet, but it does not form large flocks, as that species fre- 

 quently does. The first individual found in this country was 

 obtained by Mr Jenyns in his garden at SwafFham Bulbeck, 

 near Cambridge, in the autumn of 1832. The other instances 

 of its occurrence mentioned have all been on the eastern coast 

 of England, whither the birds had probably been driven in the 

 course of their autumnal migration southward. 



VOL. II. E E 



