Evening star., 1948-01-13
This and That
Bu Charles E. TracepeH

A resident of Gaithersburg wants to know
about bird, described as small, about inches:
outer parts gray; breast lighter gray tinged
with yellow; faint gray stripes at sides; slender
black bill; when flying, spot OF deep yellow
just above the tall
the berries of the devils walking STICK the
correspondent states.
The birds were golden crowned kinglets.
These, with their cousins, the ruby-crowned
kinglets, are among the most beautiful species
seen here in winter
They may be expected in shrubbery, usually.
Their fragile beauty is deceptive. Scientists
say no other birds brave the cold With more
aplomb, or suffer less.
Their lovelineSs has something ceramic about
it, reminding the beholder of the better sort OF
pottery images.
Their magic way, at least to the eye, Of
suddenly disappearing among leaves, sets them
apart from most birds.
When this is combined with their smallness,
they present something striking that always
leaves the observer with the desire to know
just what they are.
On such stiff leaves as those of the rhododen-
dron, the kinglets give disappearing act
unequaled
First, the bird is there; then, in twinkle Of
an eye, it is gone.
1t achieves this effect by simply turning
upside down under the leaf, probably after
tiny insect or its egg 1t sees there.
No bird is smaller except the hummlngbird.
The kinglets do not always, certainly not often,
show the crowns from which they are named.
Therefore, not to see either gold or ruby color
on the head means exactly nothing at all.
These little birds have way Of flashing these
colors at mating time, or displaying them in
mock fights
The gold of the golden crowned species is
more likely to be seen, but even this is often
missed by an observer.
The smallness of this bird is one of its sure
marks of Identification. Actually, it is nearer
Az inches than inches.
The ruby crowned kinglet is said to be the
better singer Of the two.
The birds nest in the wooded Northlands,
each species having from five to 10 eggs at a
nesting.
Kinglet, of course, means little king.
No doubt the name not oAly came from the
crowns, but also from the sheer beauty of the
birds. and their ability to weather, despite their
smallness, the intense cold.
Just how such tiny things, weighing about
half an ounce can survive with nothing but a
coat Of feathers, must remain among the
mysteries Of nature.
Strong, well clad men have perished in
storms through which these fairylike creatures
blithely fly.
Kinglets and gnatcatchers are grouped to-
gether by ornithologists. They belong to the
singing birds. It is odd, but the kinglets are
very closely related to the thrushes, though
much smaller and lacking the spotted breasts.
Despite their Ittleness the kinglets are held
to be more valuable to man than the lovely
singers, the thrushes, since they eat practically
nothing but insects, and consume many leaf
eating larvae and plant lice.
The porcelain quality of the kinglets is their
outstanding characteristic, we think; if you see
a bird that is at once small, beautiful and
almost unbelievable in appearance, you can feel
pretty sure that it is either ruby crowned or
a golden crowned knglet come to visit you
from the woodlands Of the North.