BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 431 



week in April, some of them to breed in the rough, hill country 

 in the vicinity of Lake Superior, where Mr. Lewis found quite 

 a number of them in June and July, but failed to secure any 

 nests of eggs. But they mostly go much beyond us to spend 

 their summers in an alien land. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



Above olive green, brightest on the outer edges of the wing; 

 tail feathers tinged with brownish-gray towards the head; fore- 

 head, a line over the eye, and a space beneath it, white. Ex- 

 terior of the crown before and laterally, black, embracing a 

 central patch of orange red, encircled by gamboge yellow. A 

 dusky space round the eye. Wing coverts with two yellowish 

 white bands, the posterior covering a similar band on the 

 quills, succeeded by a broad dusky one; under parts dull whit- 

 ish. 



Length, under 4; wing, 2.25; tail, 1.80. 



Habitat, North America generally. 



REGULUS CALENDULA (L.). (749.) 



RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. 



But a little larger than the Hummingbird, this remarkable, 

 vigorous species reaches us the first week in April in parties 

 of twenty to forty perhaps, a minority of which are sometimes 

 found to be Golden crowns. They follow the wooded banks of 

 the Mississippi and other large streams of water running north 

 and south, ' 'working" each tree over successively if undisturbed, 

 and one at a time, flitting to the next northward. Active to 

 the highest tension, and vigilant in their exhaustive search for 

 the eggs and larvae of insects which are only found in the 

 crevices of the bark of the trees, they are exceedingly difficult 

 to follow. I have hoped that it might be my good fortune to 

 • hear them sing, but beyond a soft twitter, or "whistle and work" 

 song, I have failed altogether. 



Dr. Coues says: "One of the most remarkale things about 

 the Ruby-crown is its extraordinary power of song. It is 

 really surprising that such a tiny creature should be capable 

 of the strong and sustained notes it utters when in full song. 

 The lower larynx, the sound producing organ, is not much big- 

 ger than a good sized pin's head, and the muscles that move it 

 are almost microscopic shreds of flesh. If the strength of the 

 human voice were in the same proportion to the size of the 

 larynx, we could converse with ease at a distance of a 

 mile or more. The Kinglets' vocalization defies description; 



