SYLVIIN/E. 57 



THE FIRE-CRRSTED WREN. 

 Regulus ignicapillus (C. L. Brehm). 



Although the Fire-crested Wren can only be considered as a 

 straggler to our shores, yet its authenticated occurrences have been 

 far more numerous than is generally supposed. Since the first 

 recognized British example — a bird of the year obtained near 

 Cambridge in August 1S32 — many visitors of this species have been 

 obtained — almost invariably in winter : rarely in Cumberland, Lan- 

 cashire, Yorkshire and Durham ; twice in, and once off the coast of 

 Norfolk; once in Kent; over twenty times in Sussex; occasionally 

 in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight ; sparingly in Devonshire ; 

 more frequently in Cornwall and the Scilly Islands than in all the 

 rest of England ; and once in North AVales. In Ireland it is as 

 yet unknown ; while in Scotland, the records of its occurrences in 

 East Lothian and the Shetlands require confirmation. 



The Fire-crested AN'ren has a much less extended range northward 

 than its congener, and although it appears to have straggled to the 

 Fasrocs, it is unknown in Scandinavia ; barely reaches Denmark ; 

 and does not occur to the north-east of the Baltic Provinces of 

 Germany, To some parts of the Rhine district it is rather partial 

 in summer ; and, although local in its distribution, it breeds in 

 France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Central and Southern Germany, 

 Greece, Turkey, and Southern Russia. In the Taurus range of Asia 

 Minor, it is more abundant than the Gold-crest. In the mountain- 

 forests of Algeria, and in some parts of Southern Europe, the Fire- 

 crest is resident throughout the year ; its numbers being augmented 



