116 KEGULUS CRISTATUS. 
Wilson’s short and imperfect account of the spe cie .j 
It is by no means more common at this time, than ’ 
was when he wrote ; which may account for w 
difficulty of ascertaining the period of its migration.’ 
and for the circumstance of our having never _ 
with the nest, and our want of acquaintance with 1 j 
habits. We can only add to its history, that it is fo u5 .. 
in the trans-Mississippian territory ; for the Sy{ 
bifasciata of Say, accurately described in Long’s o'? 
expedition, is no other than the male. We hare 
amined the specimen shot at Engineer Cantonment. 
Although the undisputed merit of first making kno" { 
this species belongs to Wilson, yet the scientific n^ 
that he applied to it cannot be retained, inasmuch a s 
is pre-occupied by the blue-gray warbler, a Lino^ 
species, which Wilson placed in Muscicopa, but wb ,( 
we consider a Sylvia, notwithstanding that it does ' 
some degree aberrate from the typical species of 
genus.* Under such circumstances, we cannot hesit 9 ' 
in adopting the name substituted by Mr Stephens, * 
continuator of Shaw’s compilation. 
GEM US XU. — REGVLVS, Vieillot. 
26. REGULUS CRISTATUS, KAY. 
FEMALE GOLDEN-CROWNED GOLD-CREST. 
BONArAllTE, PLATE II. FIG. IV. 
Two distinct species of gold-crest have been, 
lately, considered by naturalists as but one. Are t^j, 
both inhabitants of this continent ? and, if not, wh 1 * 
is the American species ? These questions cannot ^ 
readily answered, since we have nothing better th 9 
negative evidence to offer relative to the first. * ^ 
present female, how ever, is decisive as to which of 
inhabits this country. A slight inspection of 
specimen leaves no doubt as to its being the feund e 
1 rilio*' 
* See my Observations on the Nomenclature of 
Ornithology. 
