Subfamily REGULIN^. 



THE GOLDCREST. 

 Regulus cristatus, K. L. Koch. 

 Plate 9. 



The Goldcrest or Golden-crested Wren, the smallest of our British birds, is a 

 common species in most parts of the country, wherever there are woods of larch and 

 pine. 



It is scarce or absent in the Outer Hebrides, Shetlands, and Orkneys. Abroad 

 it has a wide range all over Europe and across Asia. 



The beautiful spherical nest, generally suspended from the underside of a branch 

 of the spruce, larch, yew, or cedar, is made of green moss and spiders' or other 

 webs, with a lining of feathers and a few fine bents. I have one now in my garden, 

 in a Deodar cedar, fixed to small bunches of its needles, which are fastened down 

 by bands of caterpillar web to the sides of the nest, thus suspending it under the 

 branch. 



The eggs, varying in number from five to eight and occasionally ten, are brownish- 

 or reddish-white in ground colour, with minute specks of reddish-brown. 



The Goldcrest is a hardy little bird, and even in the coldest weather seems con- 

 tent with the insect food it obtains in the shelter of plantations and gardens, where 

 it may often be seen and heard till darkness begins to set in on winter evenings. 



Being exceedingly tame and confiding, it will approach fearlessly within a few 

 feet of anyone who remains still. 



The high-pitched call-note, which is uttered incessantly while feeding and 

 creeping about the branches, has been aptly described by Macgillivray as being 

 like that of the Shrew-mouse. 



It begins to sing early in the year, and its melodious though tiny song is very 

 pleasing. 



The Goldcrest is active and restless, sociable in its habits, and ranges through 

 the woods in company with Tree-Creepers and various Tits. 



In autumn large flocks of immigrants often arrive on the east coast of England 

 and Scotland. 



The female resembles the male, although the colours are less brilliant, the crest 

 being lemon-yellow. This is absent in the young bird. 



56 



