WARBLERS. 



505 



Firecrest. 



Although a much more local bird than the goldcrest, the tirecrest 

 (R. ignicapillus) is fairly common in the pine-forests of a good many 

 parts of Europe, often frequenting bushes and scrub as well as the larger branches 

 of trees. Pairing by the middle of April, its whereabouts is generally intimated 

 by its shrill call-note, which is louder and less tremulous than that of the goldcrest. 

 The firecrest builds a similar nest to that of the goldcrest, but the eggs are of a 

 warmer coloration. It is a partial migrant, crossing the North Sea in autumn, 

 but only in very small numbers. Mr. Seebohm writes that these birds " twist 



YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER, FIRECREST, AND GOLDCREST ( nat. 



in and out among the slender twigs, sometimes with head down and sometimes 

 with feet up ; but by far the most curious part of the performance is when they 

 come to the end of the twig and examine the under surface of the leaves at its 

 extremity. They have nothing to stand upon ; so they flutter more like bees than 

 birds from leaf to leaf, their little wings beating as hard as they can go. The male 

 has the forehead buff, the crest bright orange, bordered with black on either 

 side ; two other black stripes pass through the eye and from the base of the 

 bill downwards ; the upper-parts are olive-green varied with gold on the sides of 

 the neck, and the under-parts dull buffish white. 



The ruby crest (R. calendula) is a well-known bird in the 

 United States, returning from the far north, in which it breeds, in 



