THE PERCHING BIRDS 



the crest bright orange, bordered with black on either side; two other black stripes 

 pass through the eye and from the base of the bill downward; the upper parts are 

 olive green, varied with gold on the sides of the neck, and the under parts dull buf- 

 fish white." 



The rubycrest (R. calendula') is a well-known bird in the United 

 States, returning from the far north, in which it breeds, in September, 

 when it presses gradually south into all the southern States, a few continuing their 

 journey into South America. Dr. Coues gives the following description of its hab- 

 its: " To observe the manners of the rubycrown one need only repair at the right 



Rubycrest 



YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER, FIRECREST, AND GOLDCREST. 

 (One-half natural size.) 



season to the nearest thicket coppice or piece of shrubbery. These are its favorite 

 resorts, especially in the fall and winter; though sometimes, more particularly in 

 the spring, it appears to be more ambitious, and its slight form may be almost lost 

 among the branches of the taller trees. We shall most likely find it not alone but 

 in straggling troops, which keep up a sort of companionship with each other as well 

 as with different birds, though each individual seems to be absorbed in its particular 

 business. We hear the slender wiry note, and see the little creatures skipping nim- 

 bly about the smaller branches in endlessly varied attitudes, peering in the crevices 



