56 BIEDS OF GUERNSEY. 



crest and Fire-crest well, and the distinction be- 

 tween them, I have no doubt he rightly identified 

 the bird which was brought to him. These and the 

 pair in my collection are the only Guernsey speci- 

 mens I can be certain of. 



The ' Star ' newspaper, however, in the note 

 above quoted as to the migratory flock of Golden- 

 crests, says : " It may be a fact hitherto unknown 

 to many of our readers that the Fire-crested Wren, 

 very similar in appearance to the Golden-crested 

 Wren, is not very uncommon in our Island. The 

 Fire-crested Wren so closely resembles its confrere, 

 the Golden-crested W T ren, that only a practised eye 

 can distinguish the difference between them." I 

 do not quite agree with the ' Star ' as to the Fire- 

 crest not being "very uncommon," though it occa- 

 sionally occurs. I do not think it can be considered 

 as anything but a rare occasional straggler. And 

 this from its geographical distribution, which is 

 rather limited, is what one would expect ; it is not 

 very common on the nearest coast of France or 

 England, though it occasionally occurs about Tor- 

 bay, which is not very far distant. 



The name Fire-crest has probably led to many 

 mistakes between this bird and the Golden-crest, as 

 a brightly- coloured male Gold-crest has the golden 

 part of the crest quite as bright and as deeply 

 coloured as the Fire-crest ; and the female Fire- 

 crest has a crest not a bit more deeply coloured 



