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 4^ inches. 
A'c'st. 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. 
<5-9 ; 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 w'hich 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 12th 
of January I observed them near Charleston, South Carolina, 
with companies of Sy/vias busily darting through the ever- 
greens in swampy situations in quest of food, probably minute 
larvse. 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, 
