154 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIHRARY. 



fluffy plumage, and the peculiar nests which the Gold-Crests 

 make, are all characteristic of the family Regulidce, the mem- 

 bers of which have also a most peculiar nostril. This is oval, 

 situated at the base of the bill, and has a slight operculum, 

 the whole being covered with a little stiff plume, this last 

 character being peculiar to the Gold-Crests. 



THE GOLD-CRESTS. GENUS REGULUS. 



ReguluS) Koch, Syst. Baier. Zool., p. 199 (1816). 



Type, R. regulus (Linn.). 



The genus Regulus is the sole representative of the family. 

 It contains about six species, which are found in the northern 

 and temperate parts of the Old and New World, extending as 

 far south as Mexico in the latter. In the Old World the genus 

 Regulus is principally Paloearctic, as it is found almost through 

 out the entire extent of this region, and occurs also in the 

 Himalayas, where a species indistinguishable from the English 

 bird is met with. The Common Gold-Crest of our islands 

 represents one section of the genus Regulus, while the Fire-Crest 

 represents another section, distinguished by the golden patch 

 on the side of the neck. In Madeira a separate form of Fire- 

 Crest, R. maderensis, is found, and in the Canaries another 

 form, R. teneriffce ; while in the Azores occurs the long -billed 

 Regulus azorensis, the last-named being an outlying representa- 

 tive of the Gold-Crest. 



THE GOLD-CREST. RF.GULUS REGULUS. 



(Plate XVI L, Fir. i.) 



Motarilla regidus, Linn., S. N., i., p. 338 (1766). 

 Regulus auricapillus, Macg., Br. B., ii., p. 408 (1839). 

 Regulus cristatiiS) Newt, ed, Yarr., i., p. 449 (1873); Dres.jer, 

 B. Eur., ii., p. 453, pis. 71 and 72, fig. 2 (1874) ; B. O. U. 

 List. Br. B., p. 14(1883); Gadow, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., 

 viii., p. 80 (1883) ; Seeb., Br. B., i., p. 453 (1883) ; Lilford, 

 Col. Fig. Br. B., pt. iv. (1887); Saunders, Man., p. 55 



Adult Mal3 General colour above green, inclining to lighter 

 and more yellowish-green on the lower back, rump, and upper 

 tail-coverts, all of which parts are mottled with ashy-whitish 

 spots, more or less concealed ; lesser wing-coverts like the 



