152 



SYLVIIN^E. REGULUS. 



has occurred in a very few instances, in the south-eastern parts 

 of England ; the first individual found having been obtained 

 by Mr Jenyns, in his garden, at S waff ham Bulbeck, near Cam- 

 bridge, in the autumn of 1832. It is said to be dispersed over 

 the continent, and to be migratory. 



Sylvia ignicapilla. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. i. 231. Regulus 

 ignicapillus, Id. Ibid. iii. 158. Regulus ignicapillus, Fire- 

 crowned Kinglet, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, ii. 416. 



88. REGULUS MODESTUS. PLAIN-CROWNED KINGLET. 



Not having seen this bird, first described by Mr Gould, I 

 transcribe from the Annals of Natural History, the following 

 notice, by Mr Hancock of Newcastle-on-Tyne, respecting an 

 individual shot on the 26th of September 1838 : " The whole 

 of the upper plumage a greenish-yellow ; on the centre of the 

 crown of the head is a streak of paler ; a light lemon-coloured 

 streak extends over the eye from the base of the bill to the 

 occiput; a short streak of the same colour passes beneath the 

 eye, and a narrow band of dusky passes through the eye, and 

 reaches the termination of the auriculars. The under parts 

 pale yellow ; the ridge of the wing bright lemon-colour ; wing- 

 feathers dusky, edged with pale yellow, becoming broader on 

 the secondaries ; two conspicuous bands of lemon-colour cross 

 the coverts ; the wings reach to within three-fourths of an 

 inch of the end of the tail. Bill brown, \vith the under man- 

 dible paler at the base ; mouth yellow ; legs and toes brown, 

 with the under surface of the toes inclining to yellow ; claws 

 brown. 



" Its manners, as far as I had an opportunity of observing 

 them, were so like those of the Golden-crested Wren, that at 

 first I mistook it for that species. It was continually in mo- 

 tion, flitting from place to place in search of insects on um- 

 belliferous plants, and such other herbage as the bleak banks 

 of the Northumberland coast affords. Such a situation could 

 not be at all suited to the habits of this species, and there 

 can be little doubt that it had arrived at the coast previous 

 to, or immediately after, its autumnal migrations." This spe- 

 cies is said to want the loose oblong feather which covers the 

 nostril in all the rest, 



4 T '6> 6 i> 2 Ts> iV 



Begulus modestus, Gould, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. iv. 618. 



GENUS XLVHI. SIBILLATRIX. CHIRPER. 

 Bill of moderate length, straight, very slender, slightly 



