178 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



FAMILY SYLVIIDJE. THE WOOD-INHABITERS. 



" Bill slender, broad, and depressed at the base, distinctly notched and decurved 

 at the tip ; culmen sharp ridged at base ; frontal feathers reaching to the nostrils, 

 which are oval, with membrane above, and overhung not concealed by a few 

 bristles or by a feather ; rictal bristles extending beyond nostrils ; tarsi booted or 

 scutellate; basal joint of middle toe attached its whole length externally, half-way 

 internally ; primaries ten ; spurious primary about half the second, which is shorter 

 than the seventh; lateral toes equal." BAIKD. 



KEGULUS, CUVIEK. 



Regulus, CUVIER, Le?ons d'Anat. Comp., 1799-1800 (Agassiz). (Type Motadlla 

 regulus, Linnaeus; Regulus cristatw, Koch.) 



Bill slender, much shorter than the head, depressed at base, but becoming rapidly 

 compressed, moderately notched at tip ; culmen straight to near the tip, then gently 

 curved; commissure straight; gonys convex; rictus well provided with bristles; 

 nostril covered by a single bristly feather directed forwards; tarsi elongated, 

 exceeding considerably the middle toe, and without scutellae; lateral toes about 

 equal, hind toe with the claw longer than the middle one, and about half the toe; 

 claws all much curved ; first primary about one-third as long as the longest, second 

 equal to fifth or sixth ; tail shorter than the wings, moderately forked, the feathers 

 acuminate ; colors olive-green above, whitish beneath ; size very small. 



REGULUS CALENDULA. Licht. 

 The Ruby-crowned Wren. 



Motadlla calendula, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 337. 



Sylvia calendida, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 83. 



Regulus calendula, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 415. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 546. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Above dark greenish-olive, passing into bright olive-green on the rump and 

 outer edges of the wings and tail ; crown with a large concealed patch of scarlet 

 feathers, which are white at the base; the under parts are grayish-white tinged 

 with pale olive-yellow, especially behind ; a ring round the eye, two bands on the 

 wing coverts, and the exterior of the inner tertials white. Young without the red 

 on the crown. The female differs very little in color. It is quite probable that the 

 species does not attain the red patch in the crown until the second year, as the 

 spring migrations of the species always embrace a considerable number with 

 the head perfectly plain. 



Length, four and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, two and thirty-three one- 

 hundredths ; tail, one and eighty-five one-hundredths. 



