330 
GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 
greater wing coverts tipt with white, immediately helow which 
a spot of black extends over several of the secondaries; tail pret- 
ty long, forked, dusky, exterior vanes broadly edged with yel- 
low olive; legs brown, feet and claws yellow; bill black, slen- 
der, straight, evidently of the Muscicapa form, the upper man- 
dible being notched at the point, and furnished at the base 
with bristles, that reach half way to its point; but what 
seems singular and peculiar to this little bird, the nostril on 
each side is covered by a single feather, that much resembles 
the antennae of some butterflies, and is half the length of the 
bill. Bufibn has taken notice of the same in the European. In- 
side of the mouth a reddish orange; claws extremely sharp, the 
hind one the longest. In the female the tints and markings are 
nearly the same, only the crown or crest is pale yellow. These 
birds are numerous in Pennsylvania in the month of October, 
frequenting bushes that overhang streams of water, alders, bri- 
ars, and particularly apple trees, v/here they are eminently 
useful in destroying great numbers of insects, and are at that 
season extremely fat. 
