1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



425 



For the New En^;laml Farmer. 



THE BIRDS OP NEW ENGLAND— No. 20. 



KINGLETS — TITMICE. 



Ruby-crcstefl Kinglet — Golden-crested Kinglet — Crested Tit- 

 mouse — Black-capped Titmouse — Hudson's Bay Titmouse. 



In the genus Regulus we find a few species of 

 very minute and interesting birds, two of which 

 visit New England, and are widely distributed 

 over North America. They are hardy, extremely 

 active birds, and perform extensive migrations, 

 though one species is sometimes found here in 

 the depth of winter. Their color is generally 

 some plain tint of olive, with an erectable crest of 

 brightly-colored feathers. 



The Ruby-Crested Kinglet, {Regulus Calen- 

 dula, Licht.,) winters in Mexico, and some of the 

 Southern States, and reaches Massachusetts in 

 April, first appearing among the maple blossoms, 

 nimbly searching among the opening buds for a 

 small black beetle on which it feeds much, and 

 other insects and larvae. For about two weeks it 

 is not uncommon in our woods and swamps, busi- 

 ly hunting its food among the evergreens, and the 

 yet almost naked twigs of the deciduous trees, 

 searching the tops of the tallest trees, where they 

 seem but little larger than Humming Birds, as well 

 as the low bushes. At this time the males pos- 

 sess a low but very agreeable warbling song, fre- 

 quently uttered during the clear, fine moi-nings of 

 the last of April and the fii'st week of May ; and 

 at this early season, their song can only be lis- 

 tened to with great pleasui-e, seeming the more 

 sweet, heard amid the desolate and leafless woods. 

 When several males meet, they erect their bril- 

 liant crests, Avhich are then conspicuous, and go 

 through a variety of odd and curious gesticula- 

 tions, their little throats swelling and quivering as 

 each tries to excel the others in song. As soon as 

 the season has a little advanced, they leave for 

 more boreal regions, where they spend the sum- 

 mer rearing their young, and are not again seen 

 till October, when they return to the South. A 

 few sometimes pass the summer among the moun- 

 tains of the Middle States, but their breeding hab- 

 its seem to be yet unknown. In the fall they are 

 more numerous, and occasionally visit the orch- 

 ards ; a few often linger till late in November. 

 This bird is perhaps better known as the Ruby- 

 croxoned Wren. 



Length four and a half inches ; breadth of 

 wings six and a half. Above, dark green olive, 

 with a tinge of yellow ; beneath, yellowish white ; 

 an oblong patch of erectable, scarlet feathers on 

 the crown, which usually lie concealed by other 

 feathers. 



The Golden-Crested Kinglet, ( Regulus sa- 

 trapa, Licht.,) is found throughout the northern 

 parts of the United States, westward to the Rocky 

 Mountains, but is more circumscribed in its hab- 

 itat than the preceding, which appears to visit 

 nearly all parts of the continent. In its habits, as 

 well as in its general colors, it greatly resembles 

 the preceding species, spending the summer to the 

 northward, and appearing here in spring and au- 

 tumn, and is equally active and expert in finding 

 and capturing its prey. In fall they are some- 

 times quite numerous, frequenting the orchards 

 and feasting upon the insects that then infest the 

 leaves of the apple trees, as well as hunting in the 

 woodlands. They occasionally associate with the 



Ruby-crested species, but are more frequently 

 found in company with the Chickadees, Nuthatch- 

 es and Brown Creepers, often forming a noisy par- 

 ty of several dozens. They usually forage at this 

 season in small parties of four or five to a dozen 

 or more, are very unsuspicious and industrious, 

 searching the extremities of the twigs, the branch- 

 es and the bark of the trunks with great care for 

 the lurking larvaj. Their only note at this season 

 seems to be a feeble, plaintive schreep, which is 

 their call-note. Although but half the size of the 

 Chickadee, they sometimes pass the winter in this 

 State, when they are almost invariably found in 

 companj^ with the Chickadee, which they greatly 

 surpass in the activity and agility with which they 

 hunt the almost barren twigs for food. I have 

 seen them in January, within twenty-four hours 

 after the thermometer had shown a temperature 

 ten or twelve degrees below zero, appearing as ac- 

 tive and comfortable as ever. 



The length of this species is four inches, stretch 

 of wings six and a half. Above, olive green ; un- 

 derparts, dull white ; a line of white over each 

 eye, above which is a line of deep black on each 

 side of the head ; between these black lines is an 

 oblong spot of brilliant golden yellow, divided by 

 a narrower spot of vivid flame color. These col- 

 ors contrast admirably, and often form a conspic- 

 uous ornament as the bird is flitting among the 

 trees. The female has the colors of the crest 

 much paler. 



This species much resembles the common Gold- 

 Crest, or Golden-Crowned Wren, of Europe, and 

 has been described as identical with it, as Regulus 

 cristalus, though decidedly distinct. 



Audubon described another American species 

 of Regulus, {Regulus Cuviere,) dedicating it to 

 Cuvier, but the only specimen yet known is the 

 one shot by him in Pennsylvania on the Schuyl- 

 kill, in June, 1812, on which the species rests. 



The sub-family Parince, (the Titmice) com-, 

 prise a group of very useful and interesting birds,., 

 being chiefly insectivorous, of which the coramom 

 Chickadee may be taken as an example. In th^e- 

 ninth volume of the i-eports on the various Pacific- 

 Railroad expeditions and surveys, sixteen species 

 are described by Prof. Baird as found in the Unit- 

 ed States, of which but two or three are found in 

 New England, a great part of them having; a 

 western or southern habitat, several residing whiol- 

 ly west of the Rocky Mountains, and others are 

 confined to the valleys of Texas and Mexico, and 

 southward. 



The Crested Titmouse {Lophopliancs bic-ohr, 

 Bonap. ; Parus bicolor of earlier writers,) is occa- 

 sionally seen in New York, and though its habitat 

 is said to be the whole of eastern North America, 

 it is extremely rare in Massachusetts, and south- 

 ern New England generally, and there are- but 

 few authentic instances of its having been takan 

 here. It is described by Wilson as "more noisy, 

 than the common Chickadee, more musical andi. 

 more suspicious, though rather less active It is, , 

 nevertheless, a sprightly bird, possessing- a re-- 

 markable variety in the tones of its voice, at one • 

 time not much louder than the squeaiviag of a, 

 mouse, and a moment after whistling aloud and: 

 clearly, as if calling a dog ; and continuing, this- 

 dog-call thi'ough the woods for half an hour at a 

 time. Its high, pointed crest, or, as Pennant calls 

 it, toupet, gives it a smart and not inelegant ap- 



