134 
The Kinglets 
Golden-crowned 
Kinglet 
closes a patch of fiery orange on top of the bird’s head? Then it is the 
male Golden-crowned Kinglet. If the patch is only black and yellow, then 
the bird is a female. If the bird has two distinct white wing-bars and a 
white eye-ring, and does not show the striped head-markings, it is likely 
to be the Ruby-crowned, whose flaming red crest, being partly concealed 
by olive feathers, is conspicuous only in a certain light. 
These two Kinglets, though so much alike in general appearance, have 
very distinct individualities. Both species breed northward from the 
United States, and are, therefore, only with us as visitors, yet. their 
special attributes belong to different seasons. It is for the exquisite 
spring song of the Ruby-crowned that we prize him ; for, like a wander- 
ing minstrel, he sings his way from tree-top to tree-top 
along the northern route to his breeding haunts ; while 
the value of the sprightly Golden-crowned lies in its 
cheerful companionship, for its call is an almost insect-like chirp. 
This Golden-crowned Kinglet is the one most readily identified, not 
only by its brilliant crown, but by its animated little song, teezee — teezee 
— teezee, given in an ascending key and ending in a sort of titter, half 
cry, half laugh. This performance is given constantly as the bird 
searches the smallest twigs for the insect-food upon which its high 
vitality depends, for both Kinglets are great consumers of the insects 
of the terminal shoots of trees, that larger birds cannot reach. 
The most complete account we have of the nesting of this Kinglet 
is that by William Brewster, printed in The Auk for 1888, relating to 
three nests found in Worcester County, Massachusetts, the first on June 
13, nearly finished; on June 29 it contained nine eggs. Mr. Brewster’s 
description is as follows : 
“It was placed in a slender spruce on the south side, within two feet 
of the top of the tree, and at least sixty feet above the ground, suspended 
among fine, pendent twigs about two inches below a short, horizontal 
branch, some twelve inches out from the main stem, and an equal distance 
from the end of the branch. The tree stood near the upper edge of a 
narrow strip of dry, rather open woods, bordered on one side by a road 
and on the other by an extensive sphagnum swamp. 
“The outside of the nest was composed chiefly of green mosses pret- 
tily diversified with grayish lichens, . . the general tone of the color- 
ing, however, matching that of the surrounding spruce 
foliage. The interior, at the bottom, was lined with 
delicate strips of inner bark and rootlets. Near the top 
were feathers of the Ruffed Grouse, Hermit Thrush and Ovenbird, ar- 
ranged with the points of the quills down, the tips rising slightly above 
the rim and curving inward, so as to form a screen for the eggs. The 
second nest was closely canopied by the spruce foliage, under which it was 
suspended, leaving hardly enough room for the parents to enter. 
“The ground-color of the eggs varies from cream-white to a deep 
muddy cream-color. Over this are varied markings of pale wood-brown, 
these, in turn, being the background for sharper markings of lavender. 
Nest of a 
Gold-crown 
