Birds of Indiana. 1141 



Creepers in such numbers as I never saw before. They were every- 

 where^-in woods, thickets, orchards and dooryards — and all. in full 

 song. 



Spring migrants were noted at Greensburg, March 2rl, 1894; Kich- 

 mond, March 36, 1897; Laporte, March 23, 1893; Chicago, 111., March 

 23, 1894. Usually they reach northern Indiana about April 1, and 

 leave between the middle and last of the month. The latest spring 

 records at hand axe: Brookville, April 34, 1884; Greensburg, April 

 34, 1895; Eichmond, April 37, 1897; Lafayette, April 29, 1893; Chi- 

 cago, 111., May 5, 1894, and Miss H. E. Colfax observed it in Porter 

 County, June 8, 1884. Their food is entirely insects. Many of these 

 it takes on the fly, and others are obtained about the trunks and limbs 

 of trees. They are full of energy, which is utilized from dawn till 

 dark. They put in full time and are all the time doing useful work. 

 "Of 9 specimens examined, 2 had eaten 12 small diptera (flies etc.); 3, 

 9 small beetles; 1, 5 caterpillars; 1, a small chrysalid; and 3, ver-y small 

 insects, too fine to be identified" (King, Geol. of Wis., I., p. 482). 



312. (749). Regulus calendula (Linn.). 



Ruby-crowned Kinglet. 



Adult Male.- — Above, olive-green, brighter' on the rump; crown, with 

 a patch of vermillion-red in the center; no black stripes on each side; 

 below, dull whitish. Adult Female. — Similar, but with crown patch 

 smaller or wanting. Immature. — Similar, but with no. crown patch. 



Length, 3.75-4.60; wing, 2.20-3.30; tail, 1.85-1.90. 



Eange. — ISTorth America, from Mexico (Valley of Mexico) north to 

 the limit of trees within the Arctic Circle. Breeds from Colorado, in 

 the higher mountains, and Oregon, northern Michigan and Quebec, 

 northward. Winters from southern Illinois, South Carolina and 

 Texas, south. 



Nest, in evergreen, 10 to 20 feet up, semi-pensile, quite bulky; of 

 bark, moss, weed fibres, spider webs, lined with feathers. Eggs, 8; 

 dirty cream-color, darker sometimes, faintly spotted at the larger end; 

 .55 by .43. 



The Euby-crowned Kinglet is a common migrant, as a rule, arriving 

 and remaining later than the last species in the spring and arriving 

 and departing earlier than in the fall. However, in the fall, they oceur 

 together, and' more frequently associated than in the spring, and the 

 difference in time is not so much noted. In the southern part of the 

 State they are very rare winter residents. They have been noted, in 

 winter, in Monroe County by Profs. Evermann and Blatehley. This 



