THE RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. 233 



No. loi. 



RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. 



A. O. U. No. 749. Regulus calendula (Linn.). 



Description. — Adult male: Above olive-green, duller before, brightening 

 to greenish yellow on edgings of quills and tail-feathers ; a partly concealed crest 

 of scarlet (flame-scarlet to scarlet-vermilion) ; two narrow, whitish wing-bars 

 formed by tips of middle and greater coverts ; some whitish edging on tertials ; 

 a dusky interval separating greenish yellow edges on outer webs of secondaries ; 

 a whitish eye-ring and whitish skirtings around base of bill; under parts soiled 

 white, heavily tinged with buffy and olivaceous-buff. Adult female and immature : 

 Similar but without crown-patch. Length 4.00-4.50 (loi. 6-1 14.3) ; wing 2.33 

 (59.2) ; tail 1.72 (43.7) ; bill from nostril .25 (6.4). 



Recognition Marks. — Pygmy size; scarlet crest distinctive. Note wing- 

 bars and whitish eye-ring of female and young. 



Nesting. — Does not breed in Ohio. Nest, semi-pensile ; of moss, fine bark- 

 strips, etc., neatly interwoven, lined with feathers ; in coniferous trees at mod- 

 erate heights. Bggs, 5-9, dull white or pale buffy, faintly speckled or spotted 

 with light brown, chiefly at the larger end. Av. size, .55 x .43 (14. x 10.9) 

 (Davie). 



General Range. — North America at large, south to Guatemala, north to the 

 Arctic Coast, breeding chiefly north of the United States and in the higher ranges 

 of the West. 



Range in Ohio. — Common spring and fall migrant. 



"Where's your kingdom, little king? 

 Where's the land you call your own? 

 Where's your palace and your throne? 

 Fluttering lightly on the wing 

 Through the blossom world of May, 

 Whither lies your royal way? 

 Where's the realm that owns your sway. 

 Little King?" 



Dr. Henry Van Dyke is the questioner, and the little bird has a ready 

 answer for him. It is "Labrador" in May, and 



"Where the cypress' vivid green 

 And the dark magnolia's sheen 

 Weave a shelter round my home" 



