Page:Rural Hours.djvu/419

Rh a large flock of very pretty little birds, the golden-crested kinglets, with greenish-yellow and brown bodies, a brilliant carmine spot on the head, encircled with a golden border, and then a black one. They are very small, decidedly less than the common wren, and only a size or two larger than the humming-bird. In this State they are rare birds. They are hardy little creatures, raising their young in the extreme northern parts of the continent, and are chiefly seen here as birds of passage, though remaining through the winter in Pennsylvania. They are indeed great travellers, frequenting the West Indies during the winter months. It is the first time we have ever observed them here, although their kinsmen, the ruby-crowned kinglets, are very common with us, especially in the spring months, when they linger late among our maple-blossoms. The flock about the house to-day was quite large, and they showed themselves several times in the course of the morning, flickering about the lilac and syringa bushes, and hanging on the leafless branches of the creeper trained against the wall. They have a bird in Europe all but identical with ours, the difference between the two varieties being so slight that for a long time the best ornithologists were unaware of it. The European gold-crests winter in England and Germany; in the last country they are very numerous, and although so diminutive, they are brought to market, being esteemed a great dainty; about Nuremburg, in Bavaria, they are particularly abundant, and so much prized for the table that they command a high price. When broiled their bodies can scarcely be as large as a French chestnut! What should we think of a dish of humming-birds?

It is this little bird which is alluded to in Lafontaine's charming