GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN 
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eggs are laid, generally of a greenish ground colour 
like a pale variety of the Whitethroat's, but some- 
times nearly white, and spotted and freckled with 
various blurred shades of grey-black, grey, or 
reddish-brown. The greener varieties much re- 
semble the Whitethroat's egg, but the ground is 
paler and the markings more distinct. 
GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 
(Regulus cristatus.) 
Goldcrest. — This is the smallest of British birds, 
but far from the most delicate in constitution, 
and is often plentiful in winter in larch and fir 
woods, as well as among yews and various trees of 
the evergreen cone-bearing tribe in our gardens 
and shrubberies, and sometimes among furze- 
bushes on commons. It is as active and reckless 
as a Tit, hunting for its minute food among the 
twigs with a sharp needle-like cry, so shrill and 
fine that, like the voice of the bat or the chirping 
of grasshoppers, some ears are unable to detect it. 
It has also a delicate and often-repeated little song, 
which may be heard very early in the spring. Its 
general colour is greenish-brown above and pale 
greenish -yellow beneath. The celebrated crest is 
not a regular tuft or plume, though the feathers of 
