RUBY-CROWNED WREN. 
27 
REG-ULUS CALEHDULUS. 
Ruby-crowned. Wren. Ruby-erowned Kinglet. 
“ Regulus Calendula Liclit. Yerzeich, 1832, Nos. 408-9.” Baiud, Birds of North America, 1858, 226. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Form, rather stout. Size, somewhat larger than the preceding. Bill, rather broad at base, acuminate 
and slightly curved at the tip of the upper mandible. Wings and tail as in satrapa. Marginal indentations, shallower. 
Tongue, broad, with the edges nearly straight to the tip, which is rounded, bifid, with the forked portions and sides 
coarsely ciliated for one-third of its terminal length. 
Color. Adult in spring. Above, olivaceous green, brightest on the rump, but becoming ashy on the neck and 
top of the head, which has a concealed spot of bright ruby. Wings and tail, dark brown, edged with greenish. 
Tertiaries, quite broadly margined with whitish. The secondaries and quill feathers are also narrowly edged with 
it terminally. The two rows of greater wing coverts are tipped with yellowish-white, forming bars. There is also 
a dusky band across the secondaries, exteuding over two or three primaries. Space in front of the eye and a spot 
behind it, ashy-white. Sides of head, lores and ear coverts, ashy; the latter more dusky. Sides of neck, throat and 
breast, also ashy, but of a lighter shade; this color becomes yellowish on the abdomen, flanks, and under tail coverts. 
Axillaries and under wing coverts, white. Under portion of the tail and wings, glaucous; the feathers of the latter 
edged with white. In autumn there is a more yellowish suffusion beneath; the olivaceous of the back is more 
uniform, and extends over the top of the head; the feathers of the ruby crown are also slightly tipped with dusky. 
Young, similar to the adult in autumn, but lacks the ruby crown. Both sexes are alike, excepting that the 
female does not acquire the ruby crown as quickly as the male which sometimes has a feather or two of it the first 
year. Irides, brown. Bill, dark brown, lighter at the base of the lower mandible. Tarsi and feet, brown, with the 
soles of the latter yellow. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
This species is larger than satrapa, and has the ruby crown in place of the yellow. There is no black on the top 
of the head in any stage of plumage. Although they breed much further North than the preceding, they winter much 
further South; being very abundant in Florida, and none being found in Massachusetts. When North, during 
summer, they are distributed from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements of nineteen specimens.—Length, 4-33; stretch, 6-91; wing, 2-26; tail, 1-82; bill, *34; 
tarsus, -72. Longest specimen, 4-56; greatest extent of wiugs, 7-30; greatest length of wing, 2-35; of tail, P86; 
of bill, -38; of tarsus, -76. Shortest specimen, 4-00; smallest extent of wings, 6-75; smallest length of wing, 2-17; 
of tail, 1'72; of bill, ’32; of tarsus, -38. 
HABITS. 
The Ruby-crowned Wrens are the most common birds of Florida during winter, arriving 
from the North about the first of December, scattering through the hummocks of the 
mainland of the state, where they may occasionally be found in company with other birds, but 
are generally independent; indeed, I think they seldom pay any attention to the movements 
of even their own companions ; each pursues a course agreeable to itself. They can therefore 
hardly be called gregarious at this season, being equally numerous in every wooded locality, 
unless we choose to consider all which are in Florida as constituting one vast flock. They move 
about among the luxuriant growth of trees and shrubs in a manner which plainly indicates that 
they are at home. They seem to be always busily engaged in searching for insects upon the 
branches, yet will pause to gaze inquisitively at a stranger. They are not noisy at such times, 
and although very abundant, one who is not a naturalist would scarcely notice them, for they 
come without bustle, remain in the seclusion offered by the hummocks, quietly pursuing their 
avocations, then, by the middle of March, retire Northward as silently as they came. 
When passing Massachusetts in early April they behave far differently, for they are then 
full of activity, and if any one chances to enter the wood through which they are migrating they 
will scold at him most vociferously. The males are also full of melody, and their musical efforts 
most certainly do them credit, for their song consists of a full, clear warble, which excels that 
of many of our native species. They linger here, frequenting the groves and thickets, until the 
latter part of the month, when they have all passed to the North. 
