The Golden- and Ruby-crowned Kinglet 223 



top were feathers of the Ruffed Grouse, Hermit Thrush and Ovenbird, arranged 

 with the points of the quills down, the tips rising slightly above the rim and curv- 

 ing inward, so as to form a screen for the eggs. The second nest was closely 

 canopied by the spruce foliage, under which it was suspended, leaving hardly 

 enough room for the parents to enter. 



" The ground-color of the eggs varies from cream- white to a deep muddy 

 cream-color. Over this are varied markings of pale wood-brown, these, in turn,, 

 being the background for sharper markings of lavender. In 

 The Eggs both nests the eggs were too numerous to find room on the bottom 



of the nest, and were piled in two layers.' 1 '' [Incidentally, it would 

 be interesting to know how the little birds manage to turn these nine or ten eggs 

 so as to secure equable heat.] 



" These nests were found by watching the birds while building; a task of no 

 little difficultv in dense spruce woods where the light was dim, even at noon- 

 dav. Moreover, the movements of this little architect were erratic and puzzling 

 to the last degree. . . . We finally found that her almost invariable 

 custom was to approach the nest by short flights and devious courses, and, 

 upon reaching it, to dash in, deposit and arrange her load in from two to four 

 seconds and at once dart off in search for more." 



You mav expect to see the Golden-crown in numbers in the middle and eastern 

 states almost any time after September 20 until Christmas, then sparingly until 

 middle March, when the return of those who have roved farther south begins. 

 By the first of May, at the latest, they will all have passed northward in advance 

 of the general migration of Warblers. 



I have many times seen them about my feeding-tree, where they hang upside 

 down upon the lumps of suet with all the agility of Chickadees; while, upon 

 one occasion, a Winter Wren, a Brown Creeper and the Kinglet all occupied 

 characteristic positions upon the same lump of suet, feasting and chatting, as 

 it seemed, in perfect harmony. This goes to prove that the remoter birds may 

 be encouraged to stay about habitations if only proper food is within reach; 

 while suet in large lumps, securely fastened so that birds may perch on it and 

 peck at it as they would in quarrying insects and grubs from under bark, is the 

 food universal for all insect-eaters. 



The public role of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet is that of a songster pure and 

 simple, though he is as industrious in his search for food as his little brother, 

 The Ruby- an( l as clever at nest-building in the mountain fastnesses, some- 

 crowned times at a height of nearly 8,000 feet. In fact, this nesting of the 

 Kinglet Ruby-crowned is conducted with such secrecy that we have but 

 few and meager descriptions of it. Unlike his brother, we see the Ruby-crowned 

 in a brief interval between middle April and May, and again for a month between 

 late September and October. During both migrations, they are birds of the same 

 class of thickets that Warblers love. 



