330 GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 



greater wing coverts tipt with white, immediately below which 

 a spot of black extends over several of the secondaries; tail pret- 

 ty long, forked, dusky, exterior vanes broadly edged with yel- 

 low olive; legs brown, feet and claws yellow; bill black, slen- 

 der, straight, evidently of the Muscicapa form, the upper man- 

 dible being notched at the point, and furnished at the base 

 with bristles, that reach half way to its point; but what 

 seems singular and peculiar to this little bird, the nostril on 

 each side is covered by a single feather, that much resembles 

 the antennae of some butterflies, and is half the length of the 

 bill. Buffon has taken notice of the same in the European. In- 

 side of the mouth a reddish orange; claws extremely sharp, the 

 hind one the longest. In the female the tints and markings are 

 nearly the same, only the crown or crest is pale yellow. These 

 birds are numerous in Pennsylvania in the month of October, 

 frequenting bushes that overhang streams of water, alders, bri- 

 ars, and particularly apple trees, where they are eminently 

 useful in destroying great numbers of insects, and are at that 

 season extremely fat. 



