BRITISH BIRDS. 



169 



THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 



(Rcgulus anricapilluSy Selby. Roitelct ordinaire, 

 Temm.) 



THIS is supposed to be the least of all European 

 birds; it is certainly the smallest of the British 

 kinds, being 1 in length not quite three inches and 

 a half,* and weighing only seventy-six grains. 

 The bill is very slender and dark; eyes hazel; on 

 the top of its head the feathers are of a bright 

 orange colour, bordered on each side with black, 

 which forms an arch above the eyes, and with 

 which it sometimes conceals the crown, by con- 

 tracting the muscles of the head: the upper part 

 of the body is yellowish olive green ; all the under 

 parts pale reddish white, tinged with green on the 

 sides : the greater coverts of the wings are dusky 

 brown, edged with yellow, and tipped with white: 

 quills dusky, edged with pale green, as are the 

 feathers of the tail, but lighter; legs yellowish 



* The body, when stripped of its feathers, is about an inch long. 

 VOL. I. Y 



