138 BIRDS or NORFOLK. 



is proverbially unsettled^ and the " stormy winds do 

 blow." Mr. Gould, in his new and splendid work on 

 '^'The Birds of Great Britain," referring to the -un- 

 doubtedly migratory habits of this species, observes, 

 "It would be highly interesting to ascertain whether 

 these migrants return again in the spring to the 

 countries whence they came, like the redwing and 

 fieldfare ; or whether these vast accessions are due to 

 some extraneous cause, such as an imusual severity in 

 the season prompting them to seek a more genial 

 chmate, or an undue increase in the number of indi- 

 viduals, rendering the removal of a portion of them 

 necessary for the general welfare." 



REGULUS IGNICAPILLUS (Brehm). 



FIRE-CEESTED EEGULUS. 



I know of but two recorded instances in which 

 examples of this rare species have been actually obtained 

 in this county. The first was the one referred to by 

 Tarrell as " caught on the rigging of a ship five miles 

 off the coast of Norfolk, in the early part of October, 

 1836;" the second was procured at Yarmouth, in Novem- 

 ber, 1843. Of the latter Mr. W. R. Fisher remarks, 

 in the "Zoologist," p. 451, "It was taken, I believe, 

 among some gold-crests, which appear annually about 

 that time in considerable numbers. The dark bands on 

 the cheek, and the white line over the eye, are in this 

 bird very conspicuous, but the colour of the crest is 

 much less vivid than in many of the gold-crests, whence 

 I conclude that it was a young male." I must not, 

 however, omit to mention that Mr. Hewitson (Eggs of 

 Brit. Birds, 3rd ed.) has published the following statement 

 with reference to the fire-crest in this county : — " The 



