12 THE WARBLERS 



FIRE-CREST [Regulus ignicapillus (Temminck). French, roitelet a triple 

 bandeau ; German, feuerkopfiges Goldhdhnchen ; Italian, fiorrancino.] 



1. Description. Though resembling the gold-crest this species may at 

 once be distinguished by the broad superciliary stripe, the black bar before and 

 behind the eye, and the bright patch of golden yellow on the side of the neck. 

 It is altogether a more vividly coloured bird. (No plate.) In the male the crest is 

 throughout of a fiery orange and has a satin-like sheen. It is bounded in front by a 

 bar of dull gold followed by one of black, which is continued backwards in the 

 form of a broad band bounding the sides of the orange crest. Beneath this bar 

 runs the broad white superciliary stripe. Before and behind the eye is a short bar 

 of black, the anterior bar having a < -shape. The upper parts are of a light yellow- 

 ish oil-green, enlivened by a patch of golden-yellow on the side of the neck. The 

 wing resembles that of the golden-crested wren, but the white bar of the major 

 coverts is narrower and the inner secondaries lack the well-defined spot at the tip. 

 The under parts are buff-white. Length 3-7 in. [94 mm.]. The female is duller 

 than the male, and has a plain lemon-yellow crest, but may be distinguished 

 from the female golden-crested wren by the broad white superciliary stripe and the 

 black band before and behind the eye. There is no seasonal change of plumage. 

 The juvenile plumage may be distinguished from that of the gold-crest by the 

 black markings on the head, which are as in the adult, [w. P. P.] 



2. Distribution. During the breeding season this species is found over the 

 greater part of Central and Southern Europe, North-west Africa, and Asia Minor. 

 It has not been found nesting in Holland, Belgium, or Denmark, and is scarce in 

 N. Germany, and entirely absent from Scandinavia and N. Russia. A distinct race 

 is found on Madeira, and the Corsican form is also said to differ somewhat from the 

 Continental race. In the Mediterranean region the fire-crest is resident throughout 

 the year, but in the northern portion of its breeding range (France and Germany) 

 it is, as a rule, a summer migrant only, wintering by the Mediterranean and only 

 rarely remaining through the winter months. [F. c. B. J.] 



3. Migration. This species is a very irregular winter visitor to our southern 

 and eastern shores, It is quite possible, however, that, from its close resemblance to 

 the gold-crest, it may have often been overlooked. It is from Central and Western 

 Europe that the stragglers which visit our shores probably come. It is more 

 than likely that it enters this country by an east to west route, as several examples 

 have been taken in the North Sea (J. H. Gurney, Zoologist, 1889, p. 173). Notwith- 

 standing this, however, the majority of English occurrences have been noted in 



