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THE RUBY-CROWNED REGULUS. 



Regvlus calendula, Stephens. 



PLATE CXCV. Male and Female. 



The history of this diminutive bird is yet in a great measure un- 

 known ; and, although I have met with it in places where it undoubted- 

 ly breeds, I have not succeeded in finding its nest. 



On the 27th June 1833, while some of my party and myself were 

 rambling over the deserts of Labrador, the notes of a warbler came on my 

 ear, and I listened with delight to the harmonious sounds that filled the 

 air around, and which I judged to belong to a species not yet known to 

 me. The next instant I observed a small bird perched on the top of a fir 

 tree, and on approaching it, recognised it as the vocalist that had so sud- 

 denly charmed my ear and raised my expectations. We all followed its 

 quick movements, as it flew from tree to tree backwards and forwards 

 without quitting the spot, to which it seemed attached. At last, my son 

 John raised his gun, and, on firing, brought down the bird, which fell 

 among the brushwood, where we in vain searched for it. 



The next day we chanced to pass along the same patch of dwarf wood, 

 in search of the nests of certain species of ducks, of which I intend to speak 

 on another occasion. We were separated from the woods by a deep nar- 

 row creek ; but the recollection of the loss of the bird, which I was sure 

 had been killed, prompted me to desire my young friends to dash across 

 and again search for it. In an instant six of us were on the opposite 

 shore, and dispersed among the woods. My son was so fortunate as to 

 find the little Regulus among the moss near the tree from which it had 

 fallen, and brought it to me greatly disappointed. Not so was I ; for I had 

 never heard the full song of the Ruby-crowned Wren, and as I looked at 

 it in my hand, I could not refrain from exclaiming — " And so this is the 

 tiny body of the songster from which came the loud notes I heard yes- 

 terday !" When I tell you that its song is fully as sonorous as that of 

 the Canary Bird, and much richer, I do not come up to the truth, for it 

 is not only as powerful and clear, but much more varied and pleasing to 

 the ear. We looked for its mate and its nest, but all around us was 

 silent as death, or only filled with the hum of millions of insects. I 



