38 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH INLAND BIRDS 
the head can be slightly bristled or erected, but a 
bright patch or strip between two darker, narrow 
bands, extending from near the bill back over the 
crown of the head. This strip is golden yellow 
in front, and bright orange further back. In the 
hen bird it is a paler and fainter yellow altogether. 
There are also some noticeable markings on the 
wing, clearly contrasted in black, brown, and 
white. The Goldcrest often begins to build in 
March, slinging a very delicate cup or basket of 
moss by its upper edges to the twigs and small 
boughs of one of the evergreen trees which it 
haunts. It is round in shape, and nearly shut in 
above by the meeting edges. A few fragments of 
wool or spider's webs are used to bind it to its 
supports, and there is a scanty lining of feathers. 
Seven or eight eggs are usually laid, yellowish- white 
in colour, and more or less thickly clouded and 
freckled with reddish and yellowish-brown. The 
Firecrest, which is sometimes confused with the 
Goldcrest, is a different bird, though closely akin 
to it, and is only a scarce winter visitor. 
CHIFF-CHAFF. 
{Fhylloscopus rufus.) 
Whitethroat, Haybird, Ovenbird. — This species, 
and the Willow and Wood Wrens or Warblers, 
