This family is small in our country. There are only three members of it that we are likely to see. But they are most dainty and lovely birds. They are the two kinglets or little kings, not much bigger than hummingbirds, and the blue-gray gnatcatcher, about as small. They are all fond of living in the tops of tall trees, and they generally get their food and make their pretty nests away out of our reach. So we have to look sharp to see them. It is easier to hear them, for they are fine singers.

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a plump little bird in olive-green feathers. Below he is yellowish white, and he has two whitish wing bars. On top of his head is a narrow stripe of bright ruby color. But we see him usually from below, so that is not often noticed. He flits about the upper branches, picking out the smallest insects and insect eggs, and eating them. So he is very useful to us.

Although this bird is found all over our country, he does not nest with us, except sometimes in the mountains. He goes farther north, beyond the United States. The nests that have been found in the mountains of Colorado and Montana were partly hanging, and very large for such a tiny bird. They were made of soft, fine bark strips, and green moss, and hung to the end of a spruce or pine branch.

But the ruby-crown passes his winters in the Southern States and Mexico, and when he starts for his nesting-home, he begins to sing. As he goes north, he stops a few days or a week in a place, and then is the time to hear his sweet voice. When he sings, you would hardly know him. He raises the red feathers on top of his head so that they stand up like a crown, and change his looks very much. In the picture you can see a little of the ruby stripe.

Not much is known of the habits of these little birds, they are so hard to study. They are found all over the United States, in the Southern States and California in winter, and in the Northern States in spring and fall, when migrating.

The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is a slim little bird, with a rather long tail. He is bluish gray, with some white and black on head, wings, and tail, and he is grayish white below.

He has a sweet song, but it is so low you have to be very near and very quiet to hear it. He is such a talkative, restless fellow, however, that you often see him when you might not hear the song.

The gnatcatcher is one of the most lively of birds. He bustles about in an eager way that shows everybody where to look for the nest. And when there is no nest, he flits over the tree-tops, catching tiny flying insects, and uttering a queer call that sounds something like the mew of a cat. He does not need to be so quiet as birds who build on the ground or near it, because few can get at the nest. It is too high for snakes and boys, and on branches too light for squirrels or big birds. So he can afford to be as chatty as he pleases.

The nest of this bird is one of the prettiest that is made. It is a little cup, upright on a branch, usually near the end so that it is tossed by the wind. Miss Merriam found a pair of gnatcatchers in California, and watched them through many troubles. Their way of building was by felting. That is, they took fine, soft materials like plant down, and packed it all closely together by poking with the beak and prodding it with the feet.

A gnatcatcher's nest is large for the size of the bird. It must be deep for safety, so that eggs and nestlings will not be thrown out by the wind. Three times, Miss Merriam thinks, the little family she watched had to build their nest. Each time it took more than ten days of hard work.

This pretty little fellow has a long tail, and he keeps it in motion all the time. He jerks it up or down, or twitches it to one side or the other; or he flirts it open and shut like a fan, which shows the white edges and looks very gay.

Dogs and cats, as you know, show how they feel by the way they move the tail. Birds do the same, some much more than others. If you watch the way in which they move their tails, you can learn to tell how a bird feels almost as well as if he could speak to you.

[3] See Appendix, 2.