Editing Common firecrest (section)

== In culture ==

[[Aristotle]] and [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] relate the legend of a contest amongst the birds to see who should be their king, the title to be awarded to the one that could fly highest. Initially, it looked as though the eagle would win easily, but as he began to tire, a small bird which had hidden under the eagle's tail feathers emerged to fly even higher and claimed the title.<ref>Aristotle, ''[[History of Animals]]'', 9.11.</ref><ref>Pliny, ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'', 10.74</ref> Following from this legend, in much European folklore the [[Eurasian wren|wren]] has been described as the "king of the birds" or as a flame bearer. However, these terms were also applied to the ''Regulus'' species, the fiery crowns of the goldcrest and firecrest making them more likely to be the original bearers of these titles,<ref name= zeus>{{cite book | last = Cook | first = Arthur Bernard | title = Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion | url = https://archive.org/details/p2zeusstudyinanc02cookuoft | year = 1914 | publisher =Cambridge: Cambridge University Press |page = 52, footnote 4}}</ref> and, because of the legend's reference to the "smallest of birds" becoming king, the title was probably transferred to the equally tiny wren.<ref name = Suolahti>{{cite book | last = Suolahti | first = Viktor Hugo | title = Die deutschen Vogelnamen: eine wortgeschichtliche Untersuchung | year = 1909 | publisher = Karl J Trbner| language = de | location = Strassbourg | url = https://archive.org/stream/diedeutschenvoge00suol#page/80/mode/2up | pages =80–85 }}</ref><ref name= Cocker>{{cite book | last = Cocker | first = Mark |author2=Mabey, Richard | title= Birds Britannica |year=2005 |location = London | page =232 | publisher = Chatto & Windus | isbn = 978-0-7011-6907-7}}</ref> The confusion was assisted by the similarity and consequent interchangeability of the [[Ancient Greek]] words for the wren (βασιλεύς {{Transliteration|grc|basileus}}, "king") and the crest (βασιλισκος {{Transliteration|grc|basiliskos}}, "kinglet").<ref name= arnott>{{cite book | last = Arnott | first =William Geoffrey  | title = Birds in the ancient world from A to Z | year = 2007  | location = Abingdon | publisher = Routledge | isbn = 978-0-415-23851-9 |page = 35 }}</ref> In English, the association between the firecrest and Eurasian wren was reinforced by the kinglet's old name of "fire-crested wren".<ref name= Doubleday>{{cite book | last = Doubleday | first = Henry | location = London | title = A Nomenclature of British Birds | year = 1865 | publisher = John van Voorst | edition = 4th |page = [https://archive.org/details/anomenclaturebr00doubgoog/page/n16 10] |url = https://archive.org/details/anomenclaturebr00doubgoog| quote = A nomenclature of British birds. }}</ref>