RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. 281 



RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. 



Regulus calendula. 



Char, Above, olive, brighter on rump; crown with a concealed patch 

 of rich scarlet, white at the base, — wanting in female and young ; white 

 ring around the eyes ; wings and tail dusky, the feathers edged with dull 

 buff; wings with two white bars; below, dull white tinged with buff. 

 Length about 4jS^ inches. 



Nest. In woodland, usually partially pensile, suspended from extrem- 

 ity of branch, — often placed on top of branch, sometimes against the 

 trunk, — on coniferous tree, 10 to 30 feet from the ground ; neatly and 

 compactly made of shreds of bark, grass, and moss, lined with feathers or 

 hair. 



Eggs. 6-9 ; dull white or buff, spotted, chiefly around larger end, with 

 bright reddish brown ; 0.55 X 0.43. 



These beautiful little birds pass the summer and breeding 

 season in the colder parts of the North American continent, 

 penetrating even to the dreary coasts of Greenland, where, as 

 well as around Hudson's Bay and Labrador, they rear their 

 young in solitude, and obtain abundance of the diminutive 

 flying insects, gnats, and cynips, on which with small cater- 

 pillars they and their young delight to feed. In the months of 

 October and November the approach of winter in their natal 

 regions stimulates them to migrate towards the South, when 

 they arrive in the Eastern and Middle States, and frequent in 

 a familiar and unsuspicious manner the gardens and orchards ; 

 how far they proceed to the South is uncertain. On the 12 th 

 of January I observed them near Charleston, South Carolina, 

 with companies of Sylvias busily darting through the ever- 

 greens in swampy situations in quest of food, probably minute 

 larv». About the first week in March I again observed them 

 in West Florida in great numbers, busily employed for hours 

 together in the tallest trees, some of which were already un- 

 folding their blossoms, such as the maples and oaks. About 

 the beginning of April they are seen in Pennsylvania on their 

 way to the dreary limits of the continent, where they only 

 arrive towards the close of May, so that in the extremity of 

 their range they do not stay more than three months, Wilson, 



