though showing a decided preference for streams fringed by 

 osier-beds and thickets, is more of a wanderer than the other 

 two, since tangled hedgerows, and thickets, at a distance 

 from the water will often suffice him. You may know him 

 by the fact that he is of a dark brown colour above, streaked 

 with a paler shade of brown, while the under parts are white, 

 tinged on the breast and flanks with creamy buff. 



Ornithologists rarely concern themselves with anything 

 but the superficial characters of birds. Not even the struc- 

 ture of the feathers interests them, but only their coloration. 

 Hence it is that they have come, quite commonly, to regard 

 the gold-crest, or "gold-crested wren," as it is sometimes 

 called, as one of the tit-mouse group ! There is not even 

 the remotest justification for this view. It is an indubitable 

 warbler. A glance at the coloured Plate wiU render any 

 description of its appearance unnecessary. From autumn 

 to spring you may find it in most parts of England and 

 Scotland — save the extreme north — ^hunting in hedgerows 

 and woods for food. During the breeding season it favours 

 coniferous woods. Along the south and east of England, 

 one may also meet with a closely similar species — the fire- 

 crest. But while in the gold-crest the crown is of a bright 

 lemon-yellow, in the fire-crest it is of a bright red-orange 

 hue, while the side of the head is marked by a white stripe 

 bordered with black. 



83 



