068 RUBY-GROWNED KINGLET. 



only food at thit^ season, amnse theuiselves by frequently uttering a short lisping song. 

 Although they winter in large numbers in most of the Southern States, I have met with 

 them but once in Florida. This was in December, 1868, when 1 took two specimens in a 

 hammock; they were accompanying a large flock of warblers, titmice, etc. About the 

 middle of Ajjril they migrate northward, and by the 10th of May they have all passed Mass- 

 achusetts. 



REGULUS CALENDULA. 

 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 



Regulus calendula Licht. Verzeich, 18«2, Nos. 4<)«-li 



DESCRIPTION. 



Sp. Cu. Form, rather stout. Size, somewhat larger than the preceding. Bill, rather broad at base, 

 acuminate and slightly curved at the tip of the upper mandible. Wings and tail as in R satrapa. Marginal 

 indentations, shallower. Tongue, broad, with the edges nearly straight to the tip, which is rounded, bifid, 

 with the forked portions and sides coarsely ciliated for one-third of its terminal length. 



Color. Adult in spring. Above, olivaceous green, brightest on the rump, but becoming ashy on the 

 neck and the top of the head, which has a concealed spot of bright ruby. Wings and tail, dark brown, edged 

 with greenish. Tertiaries, quite broadly margined with whitish. The secondaries and quill feathers are 

 also narrowly edged with it terminally. The two rows of greater wing coverts are tipped with j^ellowish-white 

 forming bars. There is also a dusky band across the secondaries, extending over two or three primaries. 

 Space in front of the eye and a spot behind it, ashy- white. Sides of head, lores and ear coverts, ashy ; the 

 latter more dusky, Sides of neck, throat and breast, also ashy, but of a lighter shade ; this color becomes 

 yellowish on the abdomen, flanks and under tail coverts. Axillaries and under wing coverts, white. Under 

 portions of the tail and wings, glaucous ; the feathers of the latter edged with white. In autumn there is a 

 more yellowish suflusion beneath : the olivaceous of the back is more uniform, and extends over the top of 

 the head; the feathers of the ruby crown are also slightly tipped with dusky. 



Young, similar to the adult in autumn, but lacks the ruby crown. Both sexes are alike in all stages, 

 excepting that the female lacks the ruby crown but the male sometimes has a feather or two of it the first 

 year. Irides, brown. Bill, dark brown, lighter at the base of the lower mandible. Tarsi and feet brown, 

 with the soles of the latter yellow. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



This species is larger than R. satrapa, and the males have the ruby crown in place of the yellow. 

 There is no black on the top of the head in any stage of plumage. Although they breed much further north 

 than the preceding, they winter much further south ; being very abundant in Florida, and none being found 

 in Massachusetts. When north, during summer, they are distributed from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 



DIMENSIONS. 

 Average measurements of nineteen specimens. Length, 4.33 ; stretch, 6.U1 ; wing, 2.2G ; tail, 1.82 ; bill, 

 .34 ; tarsus, .72. Longest specimen, 4. 50 ; greatest extent of wings, 7.30: greatest stretch of wing, 2.35; 

 of tail. 1.86 ; of bill, .38; of tarsus, .76. Shortest specimen, 4.00 ; smallest extent of wings, 6.75 ; smallest 

 length of wing, 2.17 ; of tail, 1.72 ; of bill, .32 ; of tarsus, .38. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, placed in trees ; they are semi-sensile and purse-shaped, composed of bark and green moss, lined 

 with feathers and hair. Eggs, from four to six in number, rounded oval in form, faintly spotted with pale 

 brown, but rather more thickly on the larger end. Dimensions, from .54 by .42 to .58 by .43. 



