Sept (To Apl)
20 to Apl. 25.
Nest, generally pensile, of green mosses, lined with fine strips of soft inner bark, fine black rootlets, and feathers, in coniferous trees, six to sixty feet from the ground. Eggs, nine to ten, creamy white to muddy cream-color, speckled and blotched with pale wood-brown, and, rarely, faint lavender, 55 x 44. (See Brewster, Auk, v, 1888, p. 337.) This Kinglet resembles in habits its Ruby-crowned cousin, with which during the migrations it is frequently associated. Its notes, however, are quite unlike those of that species, its usual call-note being a fine, high ti-ti, audible only to practiced ears. In his extended account of the nesting habits of this species, as observed by him in Worcester County, Mass. (Auk, l. c.), Mr. Brewster writes that its song "begins with a succession of five or six fine, shrill, high-pitched, some- KINGLETS AND GNATCATCHERS. what faltering notes, and ends with a short, rapid, rather explosive warble. The opening notes are given in a rising key, but the song falls rapidly at the end. The whole may be expressed as follows: tzee, tzee, tzee, tzee, ti, ti, ter, ti-ti-ti-ti."
Muffled in its thick coat of feathers, the diminutive Goldcrest braves our severest winters, living evidence that, given an abundance of food, temperature is a secondary factor in a bird's existence. 749. Regulus calendula (Linn.). RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. (See Fig. 58, a.) Ad. 8. - Crown with a partly concealed crest of bright red; rest of upper parts grayish olive-green, brighter on the rump; wings and tail fuscous, edged with olive-green; two whitish wing-bars; tail slightly forked, the middle feathers shortest; under parts soiled whitish, more or less tinged with buffy. Ad. 2 and Im.-Similar, but without the red crown-patch. L., 441; W., 2-24; T., 1.73; B., 29.
Remarks.-Females and young are warblerlike in general appearance, but note the short first primary, barely one inch in length. Range.-North America; breeds from the northern border of the United States northward; winters from South Carolina southward into Mexico. Washington, abundant T. V., Apl. 5 to May 10; Sept. 25 to Nov. 1; occasionally winters. Sing Sing, common T. V., Apl. 8 to May 13; Sept. 16 to Nov. 3. Cambridge, rather common T. V., Apl. 10 to May 5; Oct. 10 to Nov. 5.
Nest, usually semipensile, of moss, fine strips of bark, neatly interwoven, lined with feathers, in coniferous trees, twelve to thirty feet from the ground. Eggs, five to nine, dull whitish or pale buffy, faintly speckled or spotted with pale brown, chiefly at the larger end, 55 x 43 (Davie). When the leaves begin to turn you will notice numerous very small, olive-green birds flitting about the terminal twigs of the trees and lower growth, in the woods, orchards, or hedgerows. They resemble Warblers, but are much tamer-you can almost touch themand have a habit of nervously flitting their wings every few seconds, perhaps accompanying the action by a wrenlike scolding note. You will not often hear them sing at this season, and there is little in their voice or appearance to tell you that they are among the most famous of feathered songsters.
The May morning when first I heard this Kinglet's song is among the most memorable of my early ornithological experiences. The bird was in the tree tops in the most impassable bit of woods near my home, The longer and more eagerly I followed the unseen singer the greater the mystery became. It seemed impossible that a bird which I supposed was at least as large as a Bluebird could escape observation in the partly leaved trees. The song was mellow and flutelike, and loud enough to be heard several hundred yards; an intricate warble past imitation or description, and rendered so admirably that I never THRUSHES, BLUEBIRDS, ETC. hear it now without feeling an impulse to applaud. The bird is so small, the song so rich and full, that one is reminded of a chorister with the voice of an adult soprano. To extend the comparison, one watches this gifted but unconscious musician flitting about the trees with somewhat the feeling that one observes the choir-boy doffing his surplice and joining his comrades for a game of tag. 751. Polioptila cærulea (Linn.). BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER. (See Fig. 58, 6.) Ad. 8. - Upper parts bluish gray; forehead and front of the head narrowly bordered by black; wings edged with grayish, the secondaries bordered with whitish; outer tail-feathers white, changing gradually until the middle ones are black; under parts dull grayish white. Ad. 2.-Similar, but without the black on the head. L., 4·50; W., 2.05; T., 2.00; B., 40.