1 54 
ALLEN'S NATURALIST’S LIBRARY. 
fluffy plumage, and the peculiar nests which the Gold-Crests 
hli e ’, ar t u harac , t§nstic of the famiI y fundee, the mem- 
bers of which have also a most peculiar nostril. This is oval 
TSftPS* baSG ° f 5“ bi "’ and has a sli & ht operculum’, 
the whole being covered with a little stiff plume, this last 
character being peculiar to the Gold-Crests. 
tiie gold-crests, genus regulus. 
Regulus, Koch, Syst. Baier. Zool., p. 199 (1816). 
Type, R. regulus (Linn.). 
I he genus Regains is the sole representative of the family 
It contains about six species, which are found in the northern 
and temperate parts of the Old and New World, extending as 
far south as Mexico in the latter. In the Old World the <renus 
Regulus is principally Palsearctic, as it is found almost through 
out the entire extent of this region, and occurs also in the 
Himalayas, where a species indistinguishable from the English 
bird is met with. The Common Gold-Crest of our islands 
represents one section of the genus Regulus, while the Fire-Cre st 
represents another section, distinguished by the golden patch 
on the side of the neck. In Madeira a separate form of Fire- 
Crest, R. maderensis, is found, and in the Canaries another 
form, R. leneriffie ; while in the Azores occurs the long-billed 
Regulus azorensis, the last-named being an outlying representa 
tive of the Gold-Crest. 
THE GOLD-CREST. REGULUS REGULUS. 
(Plate XVII., Fig 1 .) 
MotaciHa regulus, linn., S. N., i., p. 338 (17 66). 
Regulus auricupillus, Macg., Br. B., ii.^ p. 408 (1839). 
Regulus cristatus, Newt. ed. Yarn, i., p. 449 (1S7A • Dres-r 
B ; Eur., ii„ p. 4S3 , pis, 7 r and 72, fig! a (1874) V B. O U 
List. Br. B., p. 14(1883); Gadow, Cat. B. Brit. Mus 
vni p. 80(1883); Seeb., Br. B„ i, p. 453 (1883) ; Lilford’ 
Coj. F'g- Er. B., pt. iv. (1887); Saunders, Man., p. 55 
(1889). ^ 
Adult Mala — General colour above green, inclining to lighter 
and more yellowish-green on the lower back, rump, and upper 
tai 1-coverts, all of which parts are mottled with ashy-whitish 
spots, more or less concealed; lesser wing-coverts like the 
