THE KINGLET AND GNATCATCHER FAMILY 15 
upper branches, picking out the smallest insects 
and insect eggs, and eating them. So he is very 
useful to us. 
Although this bird is found all over our coun- 
try, he does not nest with us, except sometimes 
in the mountains. He goes farther north, be- 
yond the United States. The nests that have 
been found in the mountains of Colorado and 
Montana were partly hanging, and very large 
for such a tiny bird. They were made of soft, 
fine bark strips, and green moss, and hung to 
the end of a spruce or pine branch. 
But the ruby-crown passes his winters in the 
Southern States and Mexico, and when he starts 
for his nesting-home, he begins to sing. As he 
goes north, he stops a few days or a week ina 
place, and then is the time to hear his sweet 
voice. When he sings, you would hardly know 
him. He raises the red feathers on top of his 
head so that they stand up like a crown, and 
change his looks very much. In the picture you 
can see a little of the ruby stripe. 
Not much is known of the habits of these 
little birds, they are so hard to study. They are 
found all over the United States, in the South- 
ern States and California in winter, and in the 
Northern States in spring and fall, when migrat- 
ing. 
