314 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



pine timber, and found nowhere else except in the large 

 cypress grove, where two or three were heard. 



By the 10th of March several birds had begun their pre- 

 parations for nesting. Selecting a dead pine stump or 

 branch they worked industriously, striking little resounding 

 taj)S with their bills. Two unfinished holes were found, 

 one at a height of about forty feet in a slender dead pine, 

 being just commenced, while the other, near the top of a pine 

 stump fifteen feet high, had been cut to a depth of four or five 

 inches, thus rendering necessary the removal of chips. This 

 process was effected by regular stages, the bird bringing a 

 mouthful of debris to the opening, where, entirely visible 

 with the exception of her tail, she clung to the edge of the 

 opening, head downward, until the chips were launched 

 into the air. 



Specimens which were taken on January 26 and February 

 16, do not vary in size from specimens of this species from 

 other localities. 



31. Regulus obscurus. 



Dusky Kinglet. — Frequenting more numerously the large 

 cypress grove, they are nevertheless found in the smaller 

 grove, and also among the pines. In the former and latter 

 places they are positively known to breed, and there is but 

 little doubt that they also nest in the small grove. They 

 are much tamer than others of this genus found elsewhere, 

 still they do not seek a close acquaintance with a person of 

 hunting proclivities. 



In December I found them in full song and as common 

 as in April, although strange as it may seem, it was not un- 

 til the latter month that any were noticed by Dr. Palmer. 



Their song is indescribably sweet and musical, and of 

 wonderful power for so small a bird, commencing with a 

 few low, quick notes, as though the singer were merely try- 

 ing his voice, then bursting into a full animated warble, it 

 ends in a dissyllabic measure, accented on the first syllable, 

 and usually repeated from three to six times. One remark- 



