at 
84 GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 
GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN.—SYLVIA REGULUS.—Fic. 30. 
Motacilla Regulus, Linn. Syst. i. 338, 48.— Lath. Syn. iv. 508, 145. — Edw. 254. 
— Peale’s Museum, No. 7246. 
J 
D aa * REGULUS REGULOIDES.* — Janpine. : 
Regulus eristatus, Bonap. Synop. p. 91.— Female Golden-crowned Gold-Crest 
i of NM. Ar Oin.i pl 2p. 28. —-Gyivia'regeloides, Se. MSS. | 
Tis diminutive species is a frequent associate of the one last 
described, and seems to be almost a citizen of the world at large, 
having been found not only in North and South America, the West 
Indies, and Europe, but even in Africa and India. The specimen 
»* "The Gold-Crests, the Common Wrens, with an immense and varied host of spe- 
cies, were associated together in the genus Sylvia, until ornithologists began to look, 
not to the external characters in a limitéd view only, but in connection with the 
habits and affinities which invariably connect species together. Then many divis- 
ions were formed, and among these subordinate groups, Regulus of Ray was pro- 
posed for this small but beautiful tribe. It was used by Stephens, the continuator 
of Shaw’s Zoology, and by Bonaparte in his Synopsis of North American Birds, 
and the first volume of his elegant Continuation ‘of Wilson. Mr. Swainson makes 
this genus the typical form of the whole Sylviane, but-designates it on that account 
under the title Sylvia. I have retained the old name of Regulus, on account of its 
former use by Ray, also from its having been adopted to this form by Stephens 
and Bonaparte, and lastly, as liable to create less confusion.than the bringing for-- 
ward of an old name (though denoting the typical’ affinity of the typical group). 
which has been applied to so man. different forms in the same family. i 
Wilson was in error regarding the species here figured and the Common Gold- 
= of Europe being identical, and Bonaparte has fallen into the same mistake 
when figuring the female. Regulus cristatus is exclusively European. Regulus 
reguloides appears yet exclusively North American. Upon comparing the two 
species minutely together, I find the following variations :— Length of R. 7 
loides, three inches seven eighths —of R. cristatus, from three inches anda half to 
three inches six eighths. In R. cristatus the bill is longer and more dilated at the. 
base, and the under parts of the body are more tinged with olive, —in R. regu- 
loides the orange part of the crest is much broader, and the black surrounding it, 
with the bar in front, broader and more distinct ; the white streak above the eye is 
also beiter marked, and the nape of the neck has a pale ash-gray tinge, nearly 
wanting entirely in the British speciés.t ‘ 
This very hardy and active tribe, with one exception, inhabits the temperate and 
northern climates, reaching even to the boundaries of the arctic circle. They are 
migratory in the more northern countries; and though some species are able to 
brave our severest winters, others are no doubt obliged, by want of food and a lower 
degree of cold, to quit the rigors of northern iatitortes, he species of our author 
performs migrations northward to.breed; and ‘in Great Britain, at the commence- 
ment of winter, we have a regular accession to the numbers of our own Gold-Crest, 
If we examine their size, strength, and powers of flight, we must view the extent 
of their journeys with astonishment ; they are indeed often so much exhausted, on 
their first arrival, as to be easily taken, and many sometimes even perish with the 
fatigue. A remarkable instance of a large migration is related by Mr. Selby, as 
{ There is a curious structure in the covering of the nostrils in most birds; where there 
is any in addition to the horny substance, it is composed either of fine bristles or hairs, or 
of narrow feathers closely. spread together. In the Gold-Crests it consists of a single 
Diumevet on ences side, the webs diverging widely 
. 
1 
