7" 
180 FEMALE GOLDEN-CROWNED GOLD-CREST. 
of this continent ? and if not, which is the American species ? 
These questions cannot be readily answered, since we have 
nothing better than negative evidence to offer relative to the 
first. The present female, however, is decisive as to which of 
them inhabits this country, and we have therefore concluded 
that the faithful representation in the accompanying plate will 
be acceptable to ornithologists. A slight inspection of this 
specimen leaves no doubt as to its being the female of the 
Regulus cristatus ; and should the Regulus tgnicapillus, con- 
trary to our expectations, also prove to be an inhabitant of this 
country, it will appear, along with its mate, in another volume 
of this work. All the ornithologists state that the latter is a 
native of this continent, whilst they take no notice whatever 
of the Regulus cristatus, which, if not the only indigenous, is 
certainly the more common species. This error seems to have 
originated with Vieillot, who, considering the two species as 
but one, probably was not careful in selecting the individual 
from which his drawing was made ; he may, therefore, have 
chosen a European bird, and, unluckily, of the other species, 
as both are found in Europe. 
However this may be, his figure is certainly that of the ign7- 
capillus ; and it is equally obvious that his short description 
of the female can only apply to the female of the cristatus, 
which corroborates my opinion. In the (French) “ New Dic- 
tionary of Natural History,” Vieillot distinguishes two varieties 
of Regulus cristatus, and again describes the ignicapillus as 
the one he saw in America. If this observation could be relied 
upon, we should admit that both species are inhabitants of this 
country, although the present, which must be by far the most 
numerous, is certainly not the zgnicapillus. 
I agree with Ray, Vieillot, and other authors, and dissent 
between the American and British species, which he will himself detail 
hereafter. The &. zgnicapillus has not yet been discovered in America, 
unless the bird which Mr Audubon has figured as 2. Cuverit may prove 
to be it ; but which it is impossible to determine from the plate alone. 
—Ep. 
