THE GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET 



THE RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET 



By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 



W$i iRational SLteotiation ot SLububon &ocictie0 



EDUCATIONAL LEAFLET NO. 34 



When October comes, the fall migration is in full swing. The trees are full 

 of the bustle of comings and goings, and the morning sun, that now gives little 

 heat before eight o'clock, draws many night-travelers from their seclusion to 

 preen and spread their feathers after a dew-bath in the grass. Aside from call- 

 notes, more or less musical, there is an absence of real song, save in the case of 

 the Meadowlark, White-throat or Song Sparrow, whose cheerfulness is uncon- 

 querable, and the murmurs of the young of the year, who are often impelled 

 to try their voices before their first spring. As the birds of summer vanish, we 

 turn eagerly to those that may be with us in the cold season, 

 Winter Birds and are divided technically into two groups — the Winter Resi- 

 dents and the Winter Visitants. We might naturally think that 

 birds that can stand the rigors and changes of the winter, even in our middle 

 states, must be of large size and powerful in wing; but is this always so? 



No, quite the contrary. Of course, the resident Hawks and Owls are large, 

 as is also the Crow; while the Flicker, Jay, Meadowlark, Waxwing, Crossbill 

 and Robin are sizable; but how about the Purple Finch, Myrtle Warbler, Blue- 

 bird, Song Sparrow, Chickadee, Winter Wren and the Golden-crowned Kinglet ? 

 This Kinglet is third in the list of our three "least" birds, the 

 The Kinglets measurements of the other two running thus: Ruby-throated 

 Hummingbird, 3.75 inches in length, Winter Wren 4.06 inches, 

 while the Golden-crowned Kinglet is 4.07 inches. The Ruby-throat leaves with 

 the first warning of frost, but the Winter Wren becomes a familiar resident 

 about wood-piles and brush-heaps, and the tiny Kinglet may be seen in all 

 the coldest months. 



How shall we know the Kinglets, crowned by their crests of flame and gold, 

 or ruby? They have no conspicuous flight like the Kingbird, no azure coat 

 like the Bluebird, or familiar call and ways like the Chickadee. 



When, in early October, you see the shadow of a tiny bird of dusky olive plum- 

 age working industriously between you and the sky among the terminal twigs 

 of an apple tree, or maybe a spruce, then watch out! The bird that acts and looks 

 like one of the tribe of Warblers, so hard to identify in autumn, and has a War- 

 bler-like voice, not only may be, but most likely is, a Kinglet. 



Go as close as possible, and watch the restless head atop the fluffy ball of 

 feathers. Does a heavy black band margin a yellow line that encloses a patch 



(221) 



