170 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



and chipping the bark as he traveled. This bird, we learned, is a 

 veritable acrobat in his kingdom, creeping up and down and swin g- 

 ing to and from branches with the greatest ease; he is also of 

 incalculable value from an economic standpoint, as his food is 

 mainly insects and their eggs, which he gleans from the bark of 

 trees. 



A pair of golden-crowned kinglets proved our next find; in 

 fact, the fir tree to our right housed more than one family. These 

 little jeweled bits are well camouflaged in pines or firs, but they 

 prove an easy find, even to the amateur, by their queer scolding 

 chatter which one can hardly attribute to such dainty morsels. 

 Something of the mystery of bird migration attaches itself to 

 these birds when we consider that they nest high up in these 

 mountains in summer and make a long journey to the coastal 

 region for winter quarters. 



Right here we rested, turning our attention from the treasures 

 above to those scattered at our feet. To the right a shady patch 

 of meadow rue mingled its fern-like branches with the delicate 

 columbine and wild aster. Pink dog-bane crept along the edge 

 of the trail and farther into the thicket a row of skunk cabbage 

 hedged in this little mountain bower. Underneath and almost 

 hidden, we found the dainty pyrola, like beads of pale coral drop- 

 ping from a jade-green stem. Over it all the stately pines towered 

 to the blue above, and the sun, stealing through their branches, 

 shot little sparks of gold into a background of soft, feathery green. 

 Farther along we found beds of Indian paint brush, pink spirea 

 Queen Anne's lace, delphinium and golden rod, as well as the 

 dashing magenta of the fire weed and the dainty blue of the 

 monk's hood. 



A white-headed woodpecker, in characteristic pose, called us 

 from our flowered reverie, and after observing this bird at close 

 range, we resumed our journey up the mountain side. We had 

 now entered the lodge-pole pine and hemlock belt and we expected 

 to meet at this altitude, some of the higher mountain birds of the 

 region. We had not long to await our reward for soon a large 

 black and white bird swooped across the opening and by its loud 

 raucous call we fixed its identity as that of Clark's crow or nut- 

 cracker. There were others, too, of the same feather, bizarre and 

 noisy, who vied with the first in their screeches and screams. To 



