The Birds’ Calendar 
swept hither and thither by the winds ; and the 
few that we see are only the scattering ones that 
fall to the ground, to be whirled along by the 
next gust. 
The male ruby-crowned kinglet is here, and 
his twitterings seem just ready to burst out into 
that full and delicious song that made him so 
welcome a visitor in the spring——like a blossom 
that needs only the warmth and sunshine of one 
more day to make it burst from its calyx, and 
fling its petals wide open; so the kinglet’s song 
seems on the verge of ripeness, and struggling 
to be set free. But it is too late in the season: 
his lips are sealed till spring. With all the re- 
semblance of the two kinglets, they are easily 
distinguished by the head-markings: the gold- 
en-crowned having the black and yellow lines 
in both male and female, whereas in the ruby- 
crowned the head has either the simple dash of 
scarlet, or is entirely plain. 
I found only four warblers during the month 
—the yellow-rump, black-throated green, black- 
throated blue, and the black-and-white creeper. 
Also the wood thrush, thrasher, and red-eyed 
vireo finally disappeared. The snow-birds be- 
gan to be numerous toward the close of the 
month, and throughout October the song spar- 
280 
