64 BIRDS OF THE ROCKIES 



warblers kept themselves for the most part among the 

 pines on the slopes and acclivities, the little black -caps 

 preferred the lower ground. Their songs were not bril- 

 liant performances, though rather pleasing, being short, 

 jerky trills, somewhat lower in the scale than those of 

 the well-known summer warbler. 



While I was stalking about in the low, boggy part 

 of the hollow, my attention was attracted by an odd 

 little song that came rolling down from the pines on 

 the mountain side. At length, time was found to go to 

 the place whence the song came. What could the gay 

 little minstrel be ? Somewhere I had heard such min- 

 strelsy — but where? There were runs in it that bore 

 some resemblance to certain strains of the Carolina 

 wren''s vigorous lays, but this songster''s voice was of a 

 finer quality and had less volume than that of the 

 Carolina. The little bird was found flitting among the 

 pines, and continued to sing his gay little ballad with 

 as much vigor as before. Indeed, my presence seemed 

 to inspire him to redouble his efforts and to sing with 

 more snap and challenge. He acted somewhat like a 

 Avren, but was smaller than any species of that family 

 with which I was acquainted, and no part of his plumage 

 was barred with brown and white. 



Now the midget in feathers leaped up the alternating 

 branches of a pine, and now he flew down and fluttered 

 amid the chaos of dead logs and boughs on the ground. 



