2 EVERYDAY BIRDS 



The golden-crown has on the top of its head an 

 orange or yellow patch (sometimes one, some- 

 times the other) bordered with black; the ruby- 

 crown wears a very bright red patch, though you 

 may look at many specimens without finding it. 

 Only part of the birds have it, the adult males, 

 perhaps, and even those that have it do not 

 always display it. The orange or yellow of the 

 goldcrest, on the other hand, is worn by all the 

 birds, and is never concealed. If you are a be- 

 ginner in bird study, uncertain of your species, 

 look for the black stripes on the crown. If they 

 are not there, and the bird is really a kinglet, it 

 must be a ruby-crown. You may know it, also, 

 from the goldcrest, I mean, by what looks 

 like a light-colored ring round the eye. In 

 fact, one of the ruby-crown's most noticeable 

 peculiarities is a certain bareheaded, large-eyed 

 appearance. 



Unless your home is near or beyond the 

 northern boundary of the United States, you 

 need not look for either kinglet in summer. 

 The ruby-crown is to be seen during its migra- 

 tions in spring and fall, the goldcrest in fall, 

 winter, and spring. 



At any time of the year they are well worth 

 knowing. Nobody could look at them without 

 admiration; so pretty, so tiny, and so exceed- 



