282 SINGING BIRDS. 



it would appear, sometimes met with them in Pennsylvania 

 even in summer ; but as far as I can learn, they are never ob- 

 served in Massachusetts at that season, and with their nest and 

 habits of incubation we are unacquainted. In the fall they 

 seek society apparently with the Titmouse and Golden-Crested 

 Kinglet, with whom they are intimately related in habits, man- 

 ners, and diet ; the whole forming a busy, silent, roving com- 

 pany, with no object in view but that of incessantly gleaning 

 their now scanty and retiring prey. So eagerly, indeed, are 

 they engaged at this time that scarcely feeling sympathy 

 for each other, or willing to die any death but that of famine, 

 they continue almost uninterruptedly to hunt through the same 

 tree from which their unfortunate companions have just fallen 

 by the destructive gun. They only make at this time, occa- 

 sionally, a feeble chirp, and take scarcely any alarm, however 

 near they are observed. Audubon met with this species breed- 

 ing in Labrador, but did not discover the nest ; its song, he 

 remarks, is fully as sonorous as that of the Canary, — as pow- 

 erful and clear, and even more varied. 



This species probably breeds from about latitude 45° to the 

 lower fur countries, and on the higher mountains to the southward. 

 Few nests have been discovered. Rev. Frank Ritchie found one 

 near Lennox\nlle, Quebec, and Harry Austen has taken another 

 near Halifax, in which he found 11 eggs. 



The full song is much more elaborate and more beautiful than 

 the bird has usually been credited with, for it has been described 

 by writers who have heard only the thin, weak notes more gener- 

 ally uttered. Mr. Chapman describes this song as mellow and 

 flute-like, " loud enough to be heard several hundred yards ; an 

 intricate warble past imitation or description, and rendered so 

 admirably that I never hear it now without feeling an impulse to 

 applaud." 



Note. — Cuvier's Kinglet {Reguhis cuvieri) was placed on 

 the " Hypothetical List" by the A. O. U. Committee. The single 

 bird shot by Audubon in Pennsylvania is the only specimen that 

 has been obtained. 



