_Regulus satrapa satrapa. Case 2, Figs. 62, 63; Case 4, Figs. 72, 73_
Very small, olive-green birds with a flame and
yellow crown-patch in the male and a yellow
crown-patch in the female. L. 4.
_Range._ Nests from northern New England northward
and, in the Alleghanies, south to North Carolina.
Washington, abundant W.V., Sept. 30-Apl. 27.
Ossining, common W.V., Sept. 20-Apl. 28.
Cambridge, very common T.V., not uncommon W.V.,
Sept. 25-Apl. 20. N. Ohio, common W.V., Sept.
26-May 4. Glen Ellyn, common T.V., irregular W.V.,
Sept. 19-May 8. SE. Minn., common T.V., Mch. 30-;
Sept. 21-Dec. 1.
It is surprising, in the depth of winter, when in great coat and muffler
we keep warm only by vigorous exercise, to see these dainty, feathered
mites, unconcerned by the temperature, flitting here and there in their
search for insects' eggs and larvæ. They have small fear of man and we
may readily approach near enough to hear their thin _ti-ti_ or see their
golden-crown. In proportion to its size, this diminutive species lays a
larger number of eggs than any other of our birds, as many as 9 or 10
white, brown-marked eggs being laid in their pensile, mossy nest in the
latter part of May.