416 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



some as an identification aid, is also indulged in by the vireo to some 

 extent, though the kinglet, nearly always once a second or oftener, 

 opens his wings and shuts them again all in a flash, whereas the vireo 

 does it only occasionally, or at the most once every 2 or 3 seconds." 



Kalph Hoffmann (1927) adds to the comparison: "The Vireo is a 

 stockier bird and much more deliberate in its movements. It drops 

 lazily from one twig to the next, and often stays for some seconds 

 motionless or with only a slight movement of the head." 



Winter. — In the fall these kinglets move down from their breeding 

 grounds in the mountains and spread out in scattering groups over the 

 foothills and valleys. Mr. Cogswell tells me that it is common, at 

 times exceedingly so, throughout the lower areas in winter, from late 

 September to early April. "In the oak regions of the foothills and 

 the willow regions along the lowland streams, as many as 35 to 40 

 individual kinglets can be counted on a forenoon's bird walk of 3 or 

 4 miles." 



Referring to the Lassen Peak region, Grinnell, Dixon, and Linsdale 

 (1930) write: "During the winter, ruby-crowned kinglets foraged 

 among the branches and foliage of tall shrubs and trees. Individuals 

 were observed, at that season, about the following kinds of plants: 

 digger pine, yellow pine, live oak, blue oak, buck-brush, clumps of 

 mistletoe in cottonwood, willow, and cat-tail. Almost any sort of 

 twiggery, whether leafy or not, where small insects might be found 

 seemed to be a suitable winter forage place." 



REGULUS CALENDULA GRINNELLI Palmer 



SITKA KINGLET 



HABITS 



The type of this dark-colored race of the ruby-crowned kinglet was 

 collected by Dr. Joseph Grinnell, at Sitka, Alaska, on June 23, 1896, 

 and named in his honor by William Palmer (1897), who says: "The 

 Sitkan Kinglet is a smaller and darker bird than its near relative 

 R. calendula, approaching closer, except in the coloring of its crown 

 patch, to R. obscurus of Gnadalupe Island. It lacks the grayness 

 and paleness above and on the sides of the head and neck character- 

 istic of calendula. The bill is larger and differently shaped. The 

 wing is much darker, nearly black in places, and the anterior bar 

 especially is narrower." 



Its breeding range is on the humid Northwest coast, from Prince 

 William Sound and Skagway, Alaska, to British Columbia. As this 

 region has produced so many dark-colored subspecies, it is interesting 

 to consider the type of gloomy and humid weather that has helped 



