G2 FAMILIAB WILD BIRDS. 



—with Ijuft". Tlie wing-s and tail are olive-green, but 

 the flig-ht-feathers are etlg-ed with yellowish-white, and 

 prettily barred with white, which is very perceptible in 

 llig-lit. 



Although so diminutive, the Gold-crest is to be found 

 in countries where the climate would ap])ear to be alto- 

 gether prohibitory to so small a bird ; but the poor lijtle 

 creature seems somehow to exist, even amid the snow 

 and h'ost-bound wastes of Siberia, and jiositivelj revels 

 amidst the i)ine-clad hills and mountains of Noinvay 

 and Sweden ; indeed, the race w^ould appear particularly to 

 affect the north, and it is chiefly in such countries that 

 these birds build and make their homes. 



Though their powers of flight are necessarily re- 

 stricted, the Gold-crest is a partially migratory bird, for 

 although many stay in England throughout the winter, 

 yet a number leave us. Another peculiar migration occurs 

 in October, when these birds visit gardens in the south in 

 such considerable numbers, that in 18S2, in a garden at 

 Brighton, a boy killed with a catapult as many as twenty 

 birds in one day. At these times, in spite of their gre- 

 garious habits, they are continually fighting one another. 



Although their diminutive size often enables them 

 to evade observation, the (Jold-crest is not a shy bird, 

 but will allow an observer to approach within a few 

 yards ; indeed, it would seem as if fear in a bird's mind 

 increased in direct proportion to its size. Gales seem to 

 have a great effect upon this pretty little bird, and it is 

 more generally seen immediately after one of those dis- 

 turbances of nature. Indeed, it would a]ipear that wind 

 has a much more distressing influence upon these birds 

 than even frost or snow. 



