GOLDCRESTS LAKKS. 329 



wren is, however, best distinguished by the three bands on 

 the cheek, two white and one black : the black line passes 

 completely through the eye, and one white band passes 

 above it and the other below it. The egg of the fire-crested 

 wren is much darker than that of the gold- crest, and of a 

 uniform dull reddish colour. 



The Dalmatian wren probably the rarest bird in Europe, 

 which was added to the British fauna some years since, from 

 a single specimen shot on the Northumberland coast by my 

 friend, Mr. John Hancock, of Newcastle, has been probably 

 overlooked. Of late years specimens have been shot on 

 Heligoland. This differs from either of the two last, by the 

 streak of pale yellow on the top of the head (not a crest), 

 the light lemon streak over the eye, and two of the same 

 colour on the wing coverts. But the principal mark of dis- 

 tinction appears to be this, that whereas in the two last the 

 covering of the nostrils consists of a single plumelet, in the 

 Dalmatian wren it consists of several feathers. 



2 . Passerini. 



Beak short and conical, thick and strong ; nostrils basal, 

 generally covered with small feathers ; tarsus short ; outer 

 toe joined by the first joint to the middle one. Live in fields 

 or in woods, on corn, berries, etc. ; flock in the autumn ; 

 many sing well. Mostly leave Scandinavia in the winter ; 

 moult only once in the year, in autumn, but many of them 

 undergo a partial moult (by the edges of the feathers 

 changing colour) in the spring. 



Gen. Alauddj L. 



Tertials about as long as the primaries; claws very long, 

 especially the hind one ; bill slightly convex above ; nostrils 

 hidden by feathers ; tail moderate. Are all summer migrants 

 to Sweden ; build on the ground, and lay four or five dull 

 coloured eggs ; feathers of the head in all more or less crest- 

 like. 



122. ALAUDA AEVENSIS, L. Sang Larka. The Skylark. 

 D. F. 



