The gold-crest is our smallest British bird. The ranks of 

 our resident " gold-crests," in the autumn, are swollen by 

 immigrants from northern Europe, who seek shelter with us 

 because unable to withstand the rigours of the more northern 

 winter. In the matter of size the gold- and fire-crested wrens 

 agree, measuring but a trifle more than three and a half 

 inches from the tip of the beak to the tip of the tail ! By the 

 way, the shape of the beak should be carefully noted. It is 

 that of a typical warbler. 



It may be urged that this description of the warblers 

 might well have been omitted from these pages, since, in 

 regard to " Flight," nothing whatever can be said, save that 

 they " fly." There would, indeed, be some justification for 

 such criticism, but it is to be remembered that this volume 

 is written, not for the expert, but for the novice, who, because 

 he needs a few concrete examples of the hopelessness of 

 expecting to identify every bird he may encounter by its 

 flight, and of the methods he must occasionally adopt, when 

 seeking to name a bird which will not come out into the 

 open. His course of training, and discovery, will be much 

 shortened by the realization that birds by no meems always 

 reveal their presence by taking long flights. 



What is true of the warblers, in this regard, is true also of 

 our numerous species of tit-mice. We do not distinguish be- 

 tween them in the field by their flight, but by their coloration. 



84 



