THE KINGLETS 
By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 
The National Association of Audubon Societies 
Educational Leaflet No. 34 
October 
Bird-notes 
The American Kinglets are of two species : the Golden-crowned King- 
let and the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. 
When October comes the fall migration is in full swing in southern 
New England. The trees are full of the bustle of comings and goings, and 
the morning sun, that now gives little heat before eight o’clock, draws 
many night-travelers from their seclusion to preen and spread their 
feathers after a dew-bath in the grass. Aside from 
call-notes, more or less musical, there is an absence of 
real singing, save that of the Meadow-lark, White- 
throat, or Song Sparrow, whose cheerfulness is unconquerable, and the 
murmurs of the young of the year, who are often impelled to try their 
voices before their first spring. 
As the the birds of summer vanish we turn eagerly to those that may 
be with us in the cold season, divided technically into two groups — the 
Winter Residents and the Winter Visitants. We might naturally think 
that birds that can stand the rigors and changes of winter, even in our 
Middle States, must be of large size and powerful in wing, but is this 
always so? 
No, quite the contrary. The resident hawks and owls are large, as is 
also the Crow ; while the Flicker, Jay, Meadowlark, Waxwing, Crossbill 
and Robin are sizable ; but how about the Purple Finch, Myrtle Warbler, 
Bluebird, Song Sparrow, Chickadee, Winter Wren and the Golden- 
crowned Kinglet? This Kinglet is third in the list of our three “least” 
birds, for the Ruby-throated Hummingbird measures 3.75 inches in length 
and the Winter Wren 4.06 inches, while the Golden-crowned Kinglet is 
4.07 inches. The Ruby-throat leaves with the first 
warning of frost, but the Winter Wren becomes a 
familiar resident about wood-piles and brush-heaps 
and the tiny Kinglet may be seen in the coldest months of the year. 
When, in early October, you see the shadow of a tiny bird of dusky 
olive plumage working industriously between you and the sky among the 
terminal twigs of an apple tree, or maybe a spruce, then watch out ! The 
bird that acts and looks like one of the tribe of Warblers, so hard to iden- 
tify in autumn, and has a Warbler-like voice, not only may be, but most 
likely is, a Kinglet. 
Go as close as possible, and watch the restless head atop the fluffy 
ball of feathers. Does a heavy black band margin a yellow line that en- 
A Tiny 
Visitor 
