6 



BIRDS AND FLOWERS. 



had a strangely human quality; and I felt as if I 

 were listening to the voice of some famous prima 

 donna. 



My glass almost instantly detected the little fel- 

 low, greenish olive above, yellowish gray beneath, 

 with two white wing bars. The green and the yellow 

 were quite bright in the sun. I had to follow him to 

 the apple tree back of the barn before he gave me a 

 glimpse of the pretty crimson patch which has so well 

 entitled him to be called the ruby-crowned. 



The kinglet is a tiny creature, less than four and 

 one half inches in length. He is a trifle larger than 

 his kinsman, the golden-crowned, who, next to the 

 humming-bird and the winter wren, is the smallest 

 bird we have. Both kinglets can be seen during the 

 migrations only. The golden-crowned has several 

 times favored me with a visit. He is really the more 

 beautiful of the two. The coloring of the body is 

 nearly the same in both; but the golden-crowned 's 

 head consists of a stripe of orange, encircled by three 

 horse-shoes, first of yellow, second of black, and third 

 of pure, pale gray. Each ring is distinct, and I have 

 never seen anything more exquisite than the combina- 

 tion. The song of the golden-crowned is an unpre- 

 tentious little ti-ti, ti-ti, ti-ti. Like all Arctic birds, 



