264 THE WESTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET. 



neighbor, interruincd aiul fr;igiiienlar\-, to be sure, but he has all clay to it — 

 /j",y, tss-tsif'-chil^, tscck. If you draw loo near, fsif^ can be made {o express 

 \igonjus disapproval. 



Concerning the "song" one is a little puzzled how to report. ( )ne hears, 

 no doubt, nian\' little snatches and phrases whicli lia\e in them something of 

 the quality of the better known carol of the Ruby-crown, but they lack dis- 

 tinctness and completion. Moreover, they are never given earnestly, even in 

 the height of the mating season, but. as it were, reminiscentlv, mere by- 

 products of a contented mood. It may seem a little fanciful, but I am half 

 tempted to believe that the Gold-crests are losing the ancient art of minstrelsy. 

 The lines ha\e fallen unto them in such i:)leasant places; food and shelter are no 

 problems, and there is nothing of that shock and hazard of life which reacts 

 most certainlv upon the passion of song. And then it is //('/• fault, anyway. 

 Phyllis would rather wdiisper sweet nothings in the mossy bower than be 

 serenaded, never so ably. Oh, perilous house of content! 



It remained for Mr. Bowles, after vears of untiring effort, to discover the 

 first nest of this western \ariety. .\nd then it came by way of revelation — a 

 fir branch caught against the evening sky and scrutinized mechanically afford- 

 ed grounds for suspicion in a certain thickening of the twigs under the midrib. 

 Investigation revealed a ball of moss matched to a nicety of green with the 

 surrounding foliage, and made fast by dainty lashings to the en\'eloping twigs; 

 and, better yet, a basketful of eggs. 



These birds proliabh* nest at anv height in the hea\iest fir timber; but, 

 because they are relatively so infinitesimal, it is idle to look for the nests except 

 at the lower levels, and in places where the forest area has been reduced to 

 groves and thickets. The boundaries of the prairie country about Centralia 

 and northward afford the best opportunity for nesting, for here the Douglas 

 Spruces attain a height of only a hundred feet or such a matter, and occiu' in 

 loose open groves which iiu'ite inspection. Here, too, the Kinglets may be 

 noted as they flit across from tree to tree, and their movements traced. 



The kinglet and queenlet are a devoted pair in nesting time. Whether 

 gathering materials for the nest or hunting for food after the babies are 

 hatched, they work in company as much as possible. They are discovered, it 

 may be a hundred yards from the home tree, gleaning assiduously. After a 

 time one of the birds by a muffled squeak announces a beakful, and suggests 

 a return ; the other acquiesces and they set off homeward, the male usually in 

 the lead. It looks as tho tracing would be an easy matter, but the birds stop 

 circumspectly at every tree clump en route, and they are all too easily lost to 

 sight long before the home tree is reached. 



Nests may be found at any height from the le\-el of the eyes to fifty feet 

 (higher, no doubt, if one's eye-sight ax'ails ) but always on the under side of a 

 fir limb, and usuall\- where the foliage is naturalh' dense. The nest ball is a 



