222 Bird - Lore 



of fiery orange on top of the bird's head ? Then it is the male Golden-crowned 

 Kinglet. If the patch is only black and yellow, then the bird is a female. If 

 the bird has two distinct white wing bars and a white eye ring, and does not 

 show the striped head markings, it is likely to be the Ruby-crowned, whose 

 flaming, plain red crest, being partly concealed by olive feathers, is conspicuous 

 only in certain lights. These two Kinglets, though so much alike in general 

 appearance, have very distinctive individualities. Both species breed north- 

 ward from the United States, and are, therefore, only with us as visitors, yet their 

 special attributes belong to different seasons. It is for the exquisite spring song 

 of the Ruby-crowned that we prize him; for, like a wandering minstrel, he sings 

 his way from tree-top to tree-top along the northern route to his breeding 

 haunts; while, though the call of the sprightly Golden-crowned is an almost 

 insect-like chirp, its value lies in its cheerful winter companionship. Taking 

 The Golden- them separately, this Kinglet must have right of way as being 

 crowned the most easy of identification, not only from its brilliant crown, 



Kinglet DU t from its animated little song teezee — teezee — teezee, given in 



an ascending key and ending in a sort of titter, half cry, half laugh. This per- 

 formance is given constantly as the bird searches the smallest twigs for the 

 insect food upon which its high vitality depends, for, aside from all esthetic 

 qualities, both Kinglets are great consumers of the insects of the terminal shoots 

 of orchards and forest trees, that larger birds can not reach. 



The range of this little bird extends over North America 

 His Range from the Gulf states northward to the tree limit. Its general 



nesting haunts are from the " northern United States northward, 

 southward along the Rockies into Mexico, and in the Alleghanies to North Caro- 

 lina; winters from its southern breeding limit to Mexico and the Gulf States." 

 The observations that give the most detailed account of its nesting habits 

 were made in Worcester county, Massachusetts, by Mr. William Brewster.* 



Three nests in all were found; the first on June 13, when the 

 His Nest outside was practically finished and the birds were working 



at the lining. On June 29 it contained nine eggs. Mr. Brewster's 

 description, quoted freely, is as follows: "It was placed in a slender spruce 

 on the south side, within two feet of the top of the tree, and at least sixty feet 

 above the ground, suspended among fine, pendent twigs about two inches below 

 a short, horizontal branch, some twelve inches out from the main stem, and an 

 equal distance from the end of the branch. The tree stood near the upper edge 

 of a narrow strip of dry, rather open woods, bordered on one side by a road 

 and on the other by an extensive sphagnum swamp. 



" The outside of the nest was composed chiefly of green mosses prettily diver- 

 sified with grayish lichens, .... the general tone of the coloring, how- 

 ever, matching that of the surrounding spruce foliage. The interior, at the 

 bottom, was lined with delicate strips of inner bark and rootlets. Near the 



♦See The Auk, Vol. v, 1888, pp. 337-344. 



