Length: A little over 4¼ inches.

Male: Olive-green above, buff underneath, a ruby-red crown; wings brown, edged with olive-green; two light wing-bars; tail brown, forked.

Female: Similar to male, but lacking the red crown. The females resemble tiny warblers in appearance.

Note: A sharp scolding-note.

Song: A wonderful song,—full, loud, and indescribably beautiful. It is hard to believe that so finished and remarkable a song could come from so small a bird.

Habitat: Woods, thickets, and orchards. Kinglets are usually seen near the ends of branches.

Range: Northern North America. Breeds in the tree-regions of southern Canada, southern Alaska, and the higher mountains of the western United States.

Like many of the warblers, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a spring and fall migrant, and its arrival is therefore of especial interest. It excels most of the warblers in its power of song, and is even more agile than they.

In Bulletin 513 of the Biological Survey is the following description of the Ruby-crown: “In habits and haunts this tiny sprite resembles a chickadee. It is an active, nervous little creature, flitting hither and yon in search of food, and in spring stopping only long enough to utter its beautiful song, surprisingly loud for the size of the musician. Three-fourths of its food consists of wasps, bugs, and flies. Beetles are the only other item of importance. The bugs eaten by the kinglet are mostly small, but, happily, they are the most harmful kinds. Treehoppers, leafhoppers, and jumping plant-lice are pests and often do great harm to trees and smaller plants, while plant-lice and scale insects are the worst scourges of the fruit-grower—in fact, the prevalence of the latter has almost risen to the magnitude of a national peril. It is these small and seemingly insignificant birds that most successfully attack and hold in check these insidious foes of horticulture. The vegetable food consists of seeds of poison ivy, or poison oak, a few weed seeds, and a few small fruits, mostly elderberries.”