BIRDS OF AMERICA 



flash this brilliant ruby at each other. 1 witnessed 

 what seemed to be a competitive display of this 

 kind one evening in November. I was walking 

 along the road, when my ear was attracted by the 

 fine, shrill lisping and piping of a small band of 

 these birds in an apple-tree. I paused to see what 

 was the occasion of so much noise and bluster 

 among these tiny bodies. There were four or 

 five of them, all more or less excited, and two of 

 them especially so. I think the excitement of the 

 others was only a reflection of that of these two. 

 These were hopping around each other, appar- 

 ently peering down upon something beneath 

 them. I suspected a cat concealed behind the 

 wall, and so looked over, but there was nothing 

 there. Observing them more closely, I saw that 

 the two birds were entirely occupied with each 

 other. 



"They behaved exactly as if they were compar- 

 ing crowns, and each extolling his own. Their 

 heads were bent forward, the red crown patch 

 uncovered and showing as a large, brilliant cap, 

 their tails were spread, and the side feathers be- 

 low the wings were fluffed out. They did not 

 come to blows, but followed each other about 

 amid the branches, uttering their thin, shrill notes 

 and displaying their ruby crowns to the utmost. 

 Evidently it was some sort of strife or dispute or 

 rivalry that centered about this brilliant patch." 

 {Far and Near.) 



It is not to be inferred from this graphically 

 described episode that these feathered mites are 

 pugnacious or quarrelsome creatures. Certainly 

 Mr. Burroughs could not have meant to convey 

 any such idea. Rather it was simply a little 

 difference of opinion such as may arise between 

 any two birds. Even human beings have been 

 known to hold different opinions concerning the 

 same subject, each defending his view and con- 

 demning the other's by language and conduct 

 sometimes no less violent than that of Mr. Bur- 

 roughs's Kinglets. As a matter of fact, not only 

 are both species of Kinglets essentially peaceable, 

 but they seem normally to be happy-hearted and 

 care-free, like their larger cousins, the Chicka- 

 dees, in whose company they are often found, 

 and with whom they seem always to be on most 

 friendly terms. 



Like the Chickadees, too, the Kinglets, averag- 

 ing about an inch shorter and much more fragile 

 in their appearance, seem to enjoy the bitterest 

 and stormiest winter weather. How such deli- 

 cate creatures manage not only to survive a 

 characteristic New England winter storm, but 

 to be cheerful and industrious through it all, is a 

 nine-davs' wonder. Yet it is undeniably true 

 that strong, hardened and warmly-clad men have 



perisiied in storms and cold which do not affect 

 even the apparent happiness of these weak little 

 folk with only a thin coat of feathers to protect 

 their bodies from the killing blasts, ^^'hat con- 

 stitutions they mtist have ! 



Unlike the partly concealed marking which 

 gives the Ruby-crowned Kinglet his name, the 

 corresponding ornamentation of the Golden- 

 crowned species is always plainly observable if 

 the bird's head be in full view. In the thick foli- 

 age of coniferous trees, the bird is not easy to 

 observe closely, but it is very conspicuotis in 

 deciduous trees from which the foliage has 

 fallen. 



The songs of the two birds differ greatly. 

 That of the Golden-crowned bird, Mr. Brewster 

 says, " begins with a succession of five or six 

 fine, shrill, high-pitched, somewhat faltering 

 notes, and ends with a short, rapid rather ex- 

 plosive warble. The opening notes are given in 

 a rising key, but the song falls rapidly at the 

 end. The whole may be expressed as follows ; 

 t::ce. tzce. tzcc. tzcc. fi, ti, tcr. ti-ti-ti-ti." The 

 song of the Ruby-crowned species is much more 

 elaborate and musical. In describing it as he 

 first heard it. Dr. Chapman writes : " The longer 

 and more eagerly I followed the unseen singer, 

 the greater the mystery became. It seemed 

 impossible that a bird which I supposed was at 

 least as large as a Bluebird could escape obser- 

 vation in the partly leaved trees. The song was 

 mellow and flute-like, and loud enough to be 

 heard several hundred yards ; an intricate warble 

 past imitation or description, and rendered so 

 admirably that I never hear it now without feel- 

 ing an impulse to applaud. The bird is so small, 

 the song so rich and full, that one is reminded 

 of a chorister with the voice of an adult soprano." 



Both the Ruby-crown and the Golden-crown 

 are represented in western North America by 

 variant forms. The Western Golden-crowned 

 Kinglet (Rcguliis satrapa oUvaccus) has shorter 

 wings and tail and a more slender bill than his 

 eastern brother and the olive of his upper parts 

 is brighter and more greenish. He breeds from 

 Kodiak Island and Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, 

 south through eastern Oregon to San Jacinto 

 Mountains, California. The winters he spends 

 from British Columbia to the highlands of 

 Mexico and Guatemala. The Sitka, or Grin- 

 nell's Ruby-crowned, Kinglet {Regiilus calendula 

 grinneUi) is similar to the more widely distrib- 

 uted Ruby-crown, but he has a shorter wing and 

 a larger bill, and his coloration is decidedly 

 darker. He breeds in the Pacific coast district 

 from Alaska to British Columbia and winters 

 south to middle California. 



