The SATRAP-CROWNED WREN (_Regulus satrapa_), a North American species
nearly resembling its European congeners, is brownish grey upon the back,
and greyish white upon the under side; the breast is shaded with brownish
yellow, the eyes are encircled by a greyish white ring, and the head
decorated on each side with a black band, edged with bright yellow, and
with a broad fiery red stripe across the crown; the quills and feathers
of the wing-covers are dusky, the former edged and the latter tipped with
greenish yellow; the eye is brown, the beak black, and the feet brownish
yellow. The bird is four inches long and seven broad.
Of the American Fire-crested Wren, or Fiery-crowned Knight, Nuttall
writes as follows:--"The _Regulus tricolor_ (or _Regulus satrapa_)
appears associated only in pairs, which are seen on their southern
route, in this part of Massachusetts, a few days in October, and about
the middle of the month, or a little earlier or later according to the
setting in of the season, as they appear to fly before the desolating
storms of the northern regions, whither they retire about May to breed.
Some of these birds remain in Pennsylvania until December or January;
proceeding, probably, but little further south during the winter. They
are not known to reside in any part of New England, but retire to the
same remote and desolate limits of the farther north with an allied
species, of which they have most of the habits. They are actively engaged
during their transient visits to the south in gleaning up insects and
their lurking larvæ, for which they perambulate the branches of trees
of various kinds, frequenting gardens and orchards, and skipping and
vaulting from the twigs, sometimes head downwards, like the Chicadee,
with whom they often keep company, making only now and then a feeble
chirp. They appear at this time to search chiefly after spiders and
dormant concealed coleopterous or other insects; they are also said to
feed on small berries and some kinds of seeds, which they break open
by pecking with the bill in the manner of the Titmouse. They likewise
frequent the sheltered cedar and pine woods, in which they probably take
up their roost at night. Early in April they are seen on their return to
the north in Pennsylvania. At this time they dart among the blossoms of
the maple and elm, in company with others of their race, and appear more
volatile and actively engaged in seizing small flies on the wing, and
collecting minute lurking caterpillars from the opening leaves. On the
21st of May, 1835, I observed this species feeding its full-fledged young
in a tall pine tree on the banks of the Columbia river."
"If we compare the American Golden-crest Wren with the European, we find
that they agree in general appearance, in the proportional length of the
quills and in the form of the tail, as well as in that of the bill and
legs. Their differences are the following:--
[Illustration: THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN (_Regulus flavicapillus_).]
"_Regulus tricolor_ is longer by half an inch than _Regulus cristatus_,
its bill is stronger and one-twelfth of an inch shorter, its claws are
also stronger and shorter, and the flame-coloured patch on the head is
more extended and brighter. The European species never has so much grey
on the neck and back, and its lower parts are always more tinged with
brownish yellow. The other differences are not very obvious; but the
difference in the size of the bill, were there no other characteristics,
would be enough, in a family of birds so closely resembling each other
as the _Reguli_, to point out the American as distinct from the European
species.
"On the 23rd of January," continues the same writer, "I saw great numbers
of these birds in the woods near Charlestown, searching for food high
in the trees as well as low down, and so careless of us, that, although
we would approach within a few feet of them, they were not in the least
disconcerted. Their feeble chirp was constantly repeated. We killed a
great number of them, in hopes of finding among them some individuals
of the species known under the name of _Regulus ignicapillus_, but in
this we did not succeed. At times they uttered a strong querulous note,
somewhat resembling that of the Black-headed Titmouse. The young had
acquired their full plumage, but the females were more abundant than the
males. At this season the yellow spot on their head is less conspicuous
than towards spring, when they raise their crest-feathers while courting.
The young, shot in Newfoundland, in August, had this part of the head of
a uniform tint with that of the body. With us they are amazingly fat, but
at Newfoundland we found them the reverse."
"The Satrap Wren," says Audubon, "breeds in Labrador, where I saw it
feeding its young in August, when the species appeared already moving
southward; but although it was common there and in Newfoundland, as was
the Ruby-crowned Knight, we did not succeed in our search for its nest.
It enters the United States late in September, and continues its journey
beyond their limits, as I have met with it on the borders of our most
southern districts during winter. Individuals remain in all the Southern
and Western States the whole of that season, and leave them again about
the beginning of March. They generally associate in groups, composed each
of a whole family, and feed in company with Titmice, Nuthatches, and
Brown Creepers, perambulating the tops of trees and bushes, sometimes
in the very depth of the forests or of the most dismal swamps, while
at other times they approach the plantations and enter the gardens and
yards. Their movements are always extremely lively and playful. They
follow minute insects on the wing, seize them among the leaves of the
pines, or search for larvæ in the chinks of the branches. Like the
Titmice, they are often seen hanging to the extremities of twigs and
bunches of leaves, sometimes fluttering in the air in front of them, and
are unceasingly occupied. They have no song at this season, but merely
emit now and then a low _screep_."