WESTERN RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. Regulus calendula cineraceus Grinnell

Field characters.—Size very small, about one-third that of Junco; tail shorter than body. Upper surface of body grayish green; under surface huffy white; one or two light bars across each wing, and a light ring around eye. Male has a crown patch of brilliant red, usually concealed, but capable of being flashed into view. (See pl. 10a, c). Movements quick, nervous; flutters wings frequently. Voice: Song of male elaborate, resembling the syllables see-see-see, oh, oh-oh, cheerily, cheerily, cheerily, the last three 'words' loud and clearly whistled. Note of concern in summer season a two-syllabled yer-rup, repeated at intervals; usual call note a ratchet-like che, produced in pairs or else in series for one to several seconds at a time.

Occurrence.—Common in summer in Canadian Zone (sparingly in upper Transition and lower Hudsonian) on Sierra Nevada; altitudes of occurrence chiefly between 5500 and 9000 feet. Recorded from Hazel Green and Chinquapin eastward to Warren Fork of Leevining Creek and to Walker Lake. Also common winter visitant in foothills and valleys on west side of mountains from El Portal and Smith Creek (east of Coulterville) westward to Lagrange and Snelling; transient around Mono Lake. Inhabits terminal foliage, chiefly that of trees; in pairs at nesting time, otherwise usually solitary.

The Western Ruby-crowned Kinglet while resembling its golden-crowned relative in certain respects exhibits a number of features of difference. It is for the most part a solitary bird, it performs a regular migration to lower altitudes for the winter season, and its voice is louder and its song is of quite a different kind from that of the Golden-crown.

In the Ruby-crown the bright crown patch is reserved to the adult male, the female and juvenal birds having no mark of color on the head. (See pl. 10a, c). The ruby patch is normally nearly or quite concealed by the dull olive green feathering of the head, but it is flashed forth when the owner is excited or angered. Occasionally while foraging a kinglet will keep its red crown feathers in full view for some time. When two of the birds contest with one another over some forage precinct, or when several kinglets 'buzz' about a hawk or owl, the bright color is usually in marked display on each male.

The range of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet is somewhat more extensive than that of the Golden-crown, embracing on the west slope of the Sierras the territory between altitudes of 5500 and 9000 feet. The species occurs on the floor of Yosemite Valley (4000 feet) during some summer seasons, but not regularly or in any numbers. The Canadian Zone is everywhere occupied and is the metropolis for the Ruby-crown during the nesting season. In the Hudsonian Zone the birds are found in moderate numbers but do not seem to go to the upper limit of forest trees. Our highest record for them is 9200 feet on Warren Fork of Leevining Creek, and they are seldom encountered above 8600 feet.

The Ruby-crowned Kinglets leave the higher parts of the mountains (above the Transition Zone) in the fall, our latest records being for upper Yosemite Creek, October 6, 1915, and for Gentrys, October 23, 1915 (one bird). In the winter months the Ruby-crown deserts almost entirely even the Transition Zone; a single entry for Yosemite Valley on December 22, 1914, is our notation of the only exception to this statement. In 1920 however, Mr. C. W. Michael (MS) recorded the species in the Valley as common, and observed almost daily, from October 20 up until December 30. The species is in that season common in the foothill and valley country to the west, having been found by us in numbers at El Portal, Pleasant Valley, Lagrange, and Snelling. At the end of April (28 to 30) in 1916 Ruby-crowns were common once more in Yosemite Valley. East of the mountains near Williams Butte the first for that season were noted on April 29.

The population in the Canadian Zone during early summer is such that an observer will see or hear from two to four birds, usually the higher number, per hour of observation. In either the Hudsonian or Transition Zone this number will at least be halved. At Porcupine Flat 17 Ruby-crowns were noted in 5 hours on June 27, 1915; in Yosemite Valley 7 in 4 hours and 6 in 3-1/2 hours were noted on two days at the end of April, 1916. The winter population in the foothills is denser than that in any part of the summer range. Twelve of these birds were recorded in 2-1/2 hours at Snelling on January 6, 1915, and 8 in the same space of time at Sweetwater Creek on October 28, 1915. Early in the winter of 1914 Ruby-crowned Kinglets were exceedingly abundant at El Portal. About 25 were listed there in 3 hours on November 23; 3 to 5 individuals were observed in a single tree at one time.

Both of our kinglets are busy birds at all times, but the Ruby-crown shows even more activity than does its relative. Its temperament is of the high-strung or nervous sort, which keeps the bird constantly on the go—in decided contrast to the phlegmatic behavior of, for instance, the Hutton Vireo. The kinglet has relatively long legs, and standing up on these its body is kept well clear of any perch so that the bird can hop or turn readily in any direction. Such twists and jumps are often assisted by fluttering movements of the wings. Not infrequently a Ruby-crowned Kinglet will poise on rapidly moving wings while it picks off an insect from some leaf not to be reached from a foothold. In routine foraging the bird moves through the foliage rapidly, peering this way and that as it goes, spending but a moment in any one spot or pose.

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet lacks the sociable attribute of the Golden-crown. During the nesting season the pairs give close attention to the rearing of their broods, but as soon as the young are able to live independently the families break up and each individual takes up a separate existence. While in the foothill and valley country, the Ruby-crowns are to be seen singly, each keeping to a particular forage area and usually resisting approach by another of the same species. When something excites one of their kind, however, other individuals are quick to gather and all unite in a community of effort until the object of their concern has disappeared. Then each kinglet goes its way alone once more.

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet shows considerable latitude in its food-getting activities. Its normal forage beat is about the terminal foliage of trees, in the mountain conifers during the summer time, and around the foothill and valley oaks in the winter season. Other trees than evergreens are patronized, however. Absolutely leafless willows and alders in the dormancy of winter time are resorted to commonly. When searching the twigs of these in their usual fidgety manner the kinglets expose themselves much more prominently to view than at other times. Frequently a Ruby-crown will drop into the lower bushes for a time. Wherever the bird forages it usually stays in the outer zone of foliage, darting in and out in the way of an Audubon Warbler. At times a kinglet will fly out and capture insects passing in the open air, and now and then one of the birds will drop down to the greensward beneath a tree and skip or flutter along from place to place, clinging to the grass blades in such a way that it stands up out of contact with them in so far as is possible. At El Portal a Ruby-crowned Kinglet was seen to poise on hovering wings to drink sap oozing from some fresh punctures which had been made by a Red-breasted Sapsucker in the bark of a golden oak.

Much is to be heard in the way of either song or call notes from the Ruby-crowned Kinglet at all seasons of the year. The song season commences early in the spring, the birds sometimes being in full voice before they leave the lowlands; and complete songs are to be heard until as late as the first of July. In the fall, after the molt has been accomplished, the kinglets sometimes break forth in song once more, though it is not usually complete at that season. The song is distinctive, and easily recognized among all other bird voices. One portion of it is a clear and musical whistled utterance of surprising loudness for a bird which weighs less than a quarter of an ounce (6.2 grams). Two syllabifications of the complete song are as follows: see, see, see, oh, oh, oh, property, property, property, and si-si-si, o, oh-oh, cheerily, cheerily, cheerily. The beginning notes are attenuated, high-pitched, and, together with the low-pitched middle group, are of a quality that renders them inaudible beyond a few yards. The last portion, consisting of the 'words' "property" or "cheerily," is so clear and full as to carry to astonishingly great distance when atmospheric conditions are favorable. The insistent note of concern used so much in the springtime against the jays and owls sounds like repetition of the syllables wer-rup or yer-rup. Then there is the 'ratchet' note, che, given in pairs or in rapid succession for varying lengths of time and at all seasons of the year. The last is the only note to be heard during most of the winter.

The bird student is often beholden to the Ruby-crowned Kinglet for calling attention to the presence of reclusive birds which might otherwise be overlooked by him. It was to a Ruby-crowned Kinglet that we owe our first definite record of the Great Gray Owl for the Yosemite region; and one of our specimens of the California Spotted Owl was located by reason of the telltale behavior of some of these little birds. On still another occasion the kinglets brought a California Pigmy Owl to our attention. The first two instances have already been detailed in the chapters relating to the owls in question; the third occurred at El Portal on December 6, 1914. At about nine o'clock in the morning one of our party noticed a remarkable assemblage of Ruby-crowned Kinglets about the foliage of a certain tree. Fifteen or more of the birds were buzzing about as actively and excitedly as bees, and each kinglet was uttering its 'ratchet call' with vigorous persistence. A couple of Plain Titmouses joined the group while it was being watched. The cause of the excitement became apparent when a pigmy owl flew out from the foliage of the tree. As the owl made off the crowd of excited kinglets followed in his wake.

In the nesting season Ruby-crowned Kinglets often give warning of the insidious activities of Blue-fronted Jays. On one occasion, at Chinquapin, on June 14, 1915, one of our party followed up a kinglet which was giving its yer-rup, yer-rup, over and over again in low but insistent tones. The cause of concern proved to be a pair of silent jays one of which was shot—to the seeming satisfaction of the kinglet, which immediately sang!

At the head of Peregoy Meadow a female Ruby-crowned Kinglet was watched at close range on May 20, 1919, as she was intently gathering bits of fiber or spider web from the twigs of a dead fir. Our expectations of locating a nest were aroused; but when the bird took flight it was to the middle heights of a huge red fir. She did not tarry there but went on and on from fir to fir, higher in each successive tree and was soon lost to view. Somewhere out on a cluster of needles near the end of a branch a nest was being built, but evidently in a location that would be wholly safe from all ground dwellers like ourselves. In the distance the male bird was voicing his clear melody over and over again.

A nest of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet was seen in an incense cedar close by the Sentinel Hotel Annex in Yosemite Valley in late May, 1903 (Widmann, 1904, p. 67).