84 RUBY-CROWNED WREN. 



companions have been shot down beside them. They are 

 more remarkably so in autumn, which may be owing to the 

 great number of young and inexperienced birds which are 

 then among them ; and frequently at this season, I have stood 

 under the tree, motionless, to observe them, while they 

 gleaned among the low branches sometimes within a foot or 

 two of my head. They are extremely adroit in catching their 

 prey ; have only at times a feeble chirp ; visit the tops of the 

 tallest trees, as well as the lowest bushes ; and continue 

 generally for a considerable time among the branches of the 

 same tree, darting about from place to place ; appearing, 

 when on the top of a high maple, no bigger than humble 

 bees. 



The ruby-crowned wren is four inches long, and six in ex- 

 tent ; the upper parts of the head, neck, and back, are of a 

 fine greenish olive, with a considerable tinge of yellow ; wings 

 and tail, dusky purplish brown, exteriorly edged with yellow 

 olive ; secondaries, and first row of wing-coverts, edged and 

 tipt with white, with a spot of deep purplish brown across the 

 secondaries, just below their coverts ; the hind head is orna- 

 mented with an oblong lateral spot of vermilion, usually 

 almost hid by the other plumage ; round the eye, a ring of 

 yellowish white ; whole under parts, of the same tint ; legs, 

 dark brown ; feet and claws, yellow ; bill, slender, straight, not 

 notched, furnished with a few black hairs at the base ; inside 

 of the mouth, orange. The female differs very little in its 

 plumage from the male, the colours being less lively, and the 

 bird somewhat less. Notwithstanding my utmost endeavours, 

 I have never been able to discover their nest ; though, from 

 the circumstance of having found them sometimes here in 

 summer, I am persuaded that they occasionally breed in 

 Pennsylvania ; but I know several birds, no larger than this, 

 that usually build on the extremities of the tallest trees in 

 the woods ; which I have discovered from their beginning be- 

 fore the leaves are out. Many others, no doubt, choose similar 

 situations ; and should they delay building until the woods are 



