NOVEMBER BIRDS 215 



out in the orchard or border thicket of the woods. He 

 passed us in his northward trip early last spring, but was 

 lost in the throng. But now he is almost alone, and we 

 should not let our November pass without paying our 

 compliments to him, almost the tiniest of our native 

 birds. His total length is only four and a half inches, 

 his plumage generally of a dull olive-color, but he wears 

 a crown of the brightest vermilion, which is his unique 

 feature. You would hardly suspect it as you see him 

 there, almost within touch of your hand, prying among 

 the dead leaves upon the apple branch. Strangely 

 enough, he seems especially careful to keep it conceal- 

 ed beneath the surrounding olive feathers. " Ruby- 

 crowned Kinglet," he is called " kinglet," a little king. 

 There are few crowned heads of larger size that wear a 

 brighter coronet than the Regulus calendula. His is a 

 needless lesson, for certainly none of his superiors in 

 size has more reason to display the crown than he. 



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