10 THE WARBLERS 



BRITISH GOLD-CREST [Regulus regulus anglorum Hartert. R, cris- 

 tatus K. L. Koch. Golden-crested wren, Tom Thumb. French, roitelet 

 huppe ; German, gelbkopfiges Goldhdhnchen ; Italian, regolo], 



1. Description. The adult golden-crested wren may at once be distinguished 

 by the olive-green colour of the upper parts and the brilliant patch of yellow on the 

 crown of the head, forming a crest. This crest is erectile, and has a curious glistening 

 or satin-like sheen. (PI. 51.) In the male the fore-part of this crest is lemon-yellow, 

 passing backwards into orange-red. It is bounded on either side by a broad black 

 band extending forwards to the base of the beak. The side of the neck and back are 

 of a dark yellowish olive-green, while the tail- and wing-quills are dark greyish brown, 

 the tail feathers have narrow margins of oil-green, and the secondaries a narrow line 

 of oil-green along the free edge ; the innermost are tipped with white. The median 

 and major coverts have white tips forming a double white bar ; that of the major 

 coverts is broad and contrasts with a broad black bar running immediately along its 

 hinder border and across the secondaries. The under parts are dull white, tinged 

 on the throat and flanks with oil-green. Length 3-6 in. [91 mm.]. The female differs 

 from the male in having the crest of a uniform lemon-yellow colour, and the under 

 parts dull buff, paler on the abdomen. Young birds differ conspicuously from the 

 parents in being duller and darker in colour and in lacking the brightly coloured 

 crest, [w. P. P.] 



2. Distribution. Our local race of this European species is confined as a 

 breeding species to the British Isles. It is very generally distributed in all wooded 

 districts where conifers are present throughout Great Britain and Ireland, 

 including the Isle of Wight, Anglesey, and the Isle of Man, while it has been 

 recorded as nesting in many of the Inner Hebrides where fir plantations exist, but 

 not in the Outer Hebrides, Orkneys, or Shetlands. [F. c. R. j.] 



3. Migration. Birds native to these islands have been separated from 

 Continental examples as a local race, known as Regulus r. anglorum, by Dr. Hartert, 

 Bull. B. 0. C., xvi. p. 11 (1905). To what extent our local race is migratory is 

 uncertain. During September and October, however, the Continental form 

 reaches our eastern shores in large numbers and passes through on its way to 

 its winter quarters in South Europe and N.-W. Africa. A return migration, 

 though in far smaller numbers, takes place every spring during March and April, 

 but it is not yet known whether this immigration is that of Continental birds passing 

 through, or of our own local birds returning to their breeding- quarters, though the 

 evidence to hand seems to show that our native birds are in the majority, [j. L. B.] 



