452 BRITISH BIRDS. 



cP. Bastard primary much less than half the length of the 



second Ac cbxtoh. 



h. Bill long, equal to or longer than the tarsus. 



c\ Tail graduated, the feathers stiff and pointed Cbbthia. 



d'. Tail nearly even. 



e". Bill slender, the height at the nostrils about one eighth of 



the length Tichodroma. 



/^ Bill stout, the height at the nostrils about one fourth of 



the length Sitta. 



Genus EEGULUS. 



Brisson appears to me to have had a better appreciation of the true 

 affinities of the Goldcrests when he placed them in the genus Parus than 

 Linnaeus or ScopoU, the former of whom included the Groldcrests in his 

 extensive genus Motacilla, whilst the latter removed them in company 

 with the Warblers into his restricted genus Sylvia. In 1816 Koch 

 separated them from the latter group of birds, and in his ' System der 

 baierischen Zoologie,' i. p. 199, established the genus Regulus for their 

 reception. Common sense demands that the Goldcrest be accepted as the 

 type, because it is the Motacilla regulus of Linnaeus. 



The yellow or red mark on the crown is a sufficient generic distinction. 

 The bill is short, slender, and straight. The nostrils are generally con- 

 cealed by a single feather. The wings are rounded, with a small bastard 

 primary; and the tail is slightly forked. The scutellse on the tarsus are 

 generally obsolete. 



The geographical range of the genus appears to be precisely that of the 

 genus Certhia, being the central and southern portions of the Palseartic 

 and Nearctic Regions, extending into the extreme north of the Oriental 

 and Neotropical Regions. This genus contains four or five species, some 

 of them divisible into subspecies or varieties. Two of these species are 

 found on the continent of Europe, one of which is a resident in our islands, 

 and the other an irregular winter A'isitor. A third species is a resident in 

 the island of Madeira. 



The Goldcrests feed almost entirely on insects, and resemble the true 

 Tits very closely in their habits. In the mode of construction of their 

 nests, and in the colour and shape of their eggs, they approach more nearly 

 the slightly aberrant genera Acredula and ^Eyitlialus. 



