THE KINGLETS. ' 373 



sumnicr-liouso, ready fitted, and rent free. For tliis lie more than sufficiently 

 repays tlieui by tlie clieerfulness of his song, and tlie nuiUitiido of injurious 

 insects which he daily destroys. Towards iall, that is in the month of Octo- 

 ber, his song changes to a single plainti\-e note, as he passes over the yellow, 

 manj'-colored woods, and its melancholy air recalls to oiu' minds the ap- 

 proaching decay of the face of nature. Even after the trees are stripped of 

 their leaves, he still lingers over his native fields, as if loath to leave them. 

 About the middle or end of Xovenilier few or none of them are seen ; but 

 with every return of mild and open weather we hear his plaintive note amid 

 the fields, or in the air, seeming to deplore the devastations of winter. In- 

 deed, he appears scarcely ever totally to forsake us, but to follow fair weather 

 through all its journeyings till tlie return of spring." 



Of the Robin Kedbreast of Europe much has been written, and its history 

 is so well-known that we will not devote our space to it. Care must be 

 taken not to associate it, in speaking of robins, with our American robin ( T*. 

 mif/rutorius) , as the latter bird belongs among the thrushes proper, the other 

 with the Saxicolas. Of the Wheat-Ears, probably the best known is the 

 Common Wheat-Ear, or Stone-C'liat {Snxicuhi Qi!ai>tlii-). This is a bird 

 of passage, widely spread, during the spring and summer, over the whole 

 continent of Europe. Evcrywlicre it resorts to wide, open downs, shccp- 

 pastures, and commons, scattering in pairs o\cr the country, for the purpose 

 of breeding, and collecting in vast Hocks dm-ing the autunui, which gradually 

 migrate southwards. 



The Wheat-Ear trijis along over the grass with great alertness, and its 

 flight, which is low, is smooth and ra[iid. The male has a soft, sweet war- 

 ble, which is often uttered while on tlie wing. According to Mr. Sweet, a 

 specimen kept in ca[)tivity sang by night as well as by day, and in winter as 

 well as througii the summer months, the notes being in the former season 

 the most varied. The nest of the wheat-ear is composed of dried roots, 

 grasses, feathers, and fur, and is concealed with great care, so as to be not 

 easily detected. It is sometimes placed under the shelter of a turf or stone, 

 among the fissures of old walls or stone quarries, in the deep crevices of 

 rocks, or in deserted rabbit burrows. The eggs, five or six in number, are 

 of a greenish-blue. 



Family Regllid-L. The Kixglets. 



The characteristics of this group have been gi\en on a preceding page ; 

 our Ruby-crowned and Golden-crested A\'rens, or Kinglets, are well-known 

 representatives. These little birds, which, with the exception of our hum- 

 ming birds, are the smallest of our feathered friends, arc extremely neat and 

 pretty in their plumage, and interesting in their habits. 



