THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 



REGULUS CRISTATUS. 



DELICATE in form and as delicate in colour, the 

 Golden -crested Wren is the most diminutive of 

 British Birds, and one of the most generally distri- 

 buted. Unlike many of the Sylviid<z> it is as plentiful 

 in Scotland as in the South of England ; and, strange 

 to say, seems almost as well able to stand the cold of 

 winter as the heat of summer. 



Although resident with us throughout the year, 

 it receives a considerable accession to its numbers 

 in autumn, when a regular immigration from the 

 north and north-west takes place, hundreds crossing 

 the North Sea in October and December. 



Selby once witnessed an extraordinary arrival of 

 Golden-crested Wrens on the Northumberland coast, 

 which he subsequently ascertained was observed 

 along the whole line of coast from beyond Berwick 



