222 



is warmly lined with feathers, which project over the rim of the nest. 

 The height from the ground varies considerably: when built in evergreen 

 bushes it is often only a few feet high, and Hewitson records one in a 

 juniper 1 ft. above the ground : on the other hand in firs or other trees 

 it is often 20 to 40 ft. high. When beginning to build the birds are 

 shy and apt to forsake, but after the eggs are laid they show great 

 confidence. The hen sits very closely and when disturbed Avill often 

 approach within a foot or two of the intruder. The depth of the cup, 

 about II in., is almost equal to the internal diameter. 

 Eggs. Usually 7 or 8 to 9 or 10, but instances of 11 and even 12 eggs 



have been recorded. The ground colour is sometimes white, sometimes 

 linged with pale ochreous, but never with the pinky red tinge found in 

 eggs of R. ig)iicapillus. The spots of reddish or ochreous brown are 

 generally concentrated towards the big end, and sometimes form a con- 

 fluent zone or cap. Exceptionally clutches have been recorded distinctly 

 spotted with reddish on a white ground. 

 Breeding I^ England a few cases have been known in which the eggs have 



Season, jjggj^ ^^^(j about the end of March, but the most usual time for full 

 clutches is from April 26 to May 11 for the first brood, while second 

 broods may be looked for at the end of May or early in June. In 

 Scotland the breeding time is very similar, except that few if any birds 

 breed before mid -April, but in Ireland Ussher has found a nest with 

 4 eggs as early as March 14, although most birds breed in April, laying 

 a second time towards the end of May. 

 Measure- Avcragc of 100 British eggs, measured by the writer, 13.61 X 



ments. 10.22 mm., Max. 14.6x9.6 and 14x11, Min. 12.2x10 and 13.6x9.5 mm. 

 Average weight of 20 eggs, 37 mg. N. H. Foster gives the average 

 weight of 14 full eggs as 745 g. 



b. Continental Golderest, R. regains regnlns (L.). 



Plate 21, fig. 17—20 (Styria). 



Eggs: Thienemann, Fortpfl. Tab. XIX, fig. 7, a — c. Baedeker, 

 Tab. 51, fig. 1. Taczanowski, Tab. XXXIX, fig. 1. Dresser, pi. — , fig. 2. 



Local Names: Woodcock Pilot, Herring Sprat. 



Foreign Names: Bohemia: KrdliCek obecny. Denmark: Oultoppet 

 Fuglekonge. Finland: Hiripiainen. France: Roitelet huppe. Germany: 

 Oelbkopfiges Ooldhahnchen. Holland: Goudhaantje. Hungary: Sdrgafejil 

 kirdlyka. Italy: Regolo. Norway: Fuglekonge. Poland: Krolik czubaty. 

 Russia: Korolek zeltogolevy. Sweden: Kungsfogel. 



R. cristatus Koch. Dresser, Birds of Europe, II, p. 453 and Man. 

 Pal. Birds, p. 91 {part.). R. regulus regulus (L.). Hartert, Vog. Pal. 

 Fauna, p. 394. 



