74 



THE OSPREY. 



lets from Ulster County in the Eastern 

 Catskills, but these records are not very 

 surprising- when we recollect that the 

 Catskills are really a spur of the Alleg-ha- 

 nies, and both rang-es belong" to the Appa- 

 lachian system. Thoug-h classed as a mi- 

 g-rant, the Ruby-crowned King-let occa- 

 sionally strays Northward or remains be- 

 hind after the Fall mig-ration and is found 

 often in Winter, north of its g-eneral Win- 

 ter range. It has been found in Winter, 

 in Washing-ton, D. C, in St. Louis, Mo., 

 and in numbers in Southeastern Missouri, 

 last Januar}'. I saw a pair of birds busy 

 looking- for food in one of the trees in our 

 orchard ( New Rochelle, N.Y. ) November 

 19 and on December 1, I observed asing-le 

 bird, in one of the larch trees, thoug-h 

 there was a half of foot of snow on the 

 g-round. West of the Mississippi River 

 the Ruby-crown is a common mig-rant, in 

 Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and the other 

 States, breeding- in the Rocky Mountains, 

 Sierra Nevada and the mountains of Ari- 

 zona and other rang-es, along- the Pacific 

 slope to Lower California. There are 

 several partly confirmed reports of its be- 

 ing- seen or taken in Summer, in the East- 

 ern States, but the only well-established 

 record of breeding- in the Eastern United 

 States is that of Mr. S. E. White, who 

 took a nest with five young- on Mackinac 

 Island, July 26, 1890. 



It is said to have occurred in Summer, 

 in Western New Hampshire, Indiana, and 

 to remain in small numbers in North- 

 eastern Ohio, but the records are not 

 reliable or confirmed. My paper pre- 

 sented before the Linna?an Society of 

 New York, on October 24, 1896, entitled 

 "The Birds of the Vicinity of Stamford, 

 Delaware County, New York," contains 

 the following- account of this bird: "This 

 rare King-let is found near Stamford, 

 thoug-h not abundantly, and only com- 

 mon, in a ravine between two mountains, 

 that was very thickly filled with briars, 

 willows, elderberry bushes, pines, hem- 

 locks, balsams, etc., the g-round being- 

 damp and marshy. There were about 

 six pairs of birds there, but were difticult 

 to approach on account of their shyness. 

 I first discovered them July lU, 1896, but 

 it was not until the eig-hteenth that I 

 secured a pair of birds (male and female ). 

 I g-ot another male specimen in a bushy 

 swamp on the upper Delaware River 

 (near a small brook) on July 16, 1896. 



All the specimens were in a stag-e of moul- 

 ting-, and the female's breast was almost 

 destitute of feathers and had a thick 

 layer of fat beneath the skin, which, 

 according- to experts upon the subject of 

 moulting-, shows the birds were nesting- 

 when secured. The occurrence of the 

 Golden-crown in Summer in the Catskills, 

 is not very remarkable (thoug-h worth 

 recording-) as it is known to nest along- 

 the Alleg-hanies, but the Ruby-crowned 

 King-let does not nest along- the Alleg-ha- 

 nies and the few Summer records of it, in 

 the Eastern United States are not reliable, 

 therefore the occurrence of this King-let 

 in Southern New York State in July, is 

 not only surprising- but also very remark- 

 able. These birds could not have possibly 

 been mig-rants, as a look at a few records 

 of its mig-ration in Spring- and Fall near 

 New York City, from well-known orni- 

 tholog-ists will verify. Dr. E. A. Mearns, 

 in his "List of the Birds of the Hudson 

 Hig-hlands," as recorded from Hig-hland 

 Falls, N. Y., g-ives as follows: 



In Fall transit, returns from the North, 

 September 22 ; departs for the South, 

 November 2. 



In Spring- transit, arrives from the 

 South, April 13-23; departsfor the North, 

 May 9-18. 



And Prof. C. Hart Merriam, in his "Re- 

 view of the Birds of Connecticut" as 

 follows: 



In Spring- transit, arrives from the 

 South, April 11; departs for the North, 

 May 16. 



In Fall transit, returns from the North, 

 October 13; departs for the South, October 

 24. 



If the birds leave us as late as May 16, 

 they could reach their Summer homes by 

 June and remain there until late Aug-ust, 

 and returning-, reach us by early Septem- 

 ber, hence all Rub^'-crowned King-lets 

 found near Stamford during- the month of 

 July were not mig-rants, but were sum- 

 mer residents of the places they inhab- 

 ited. 



Would it not be well then, to g-ive in 

 place of the former distribution in the 

 Eastern United States of the Ruby- 

 crowned King-let the following-: — Princi- 

 pally a mig-rant, but wintering- on rare 

 occasions, g-enerally summering- in hig-h 

 Northern reg-ions, but sometimes found 

 here and there, among- the hig-her valleys 

 in the midst of mountain ranires in differ- 



