DUSKY KINGLET 417 



to produce them. Mr. Palmer quotes the following from a circular 

 of the United States Weather Bureau : 



The fringe of islands that separates the mainland from the Pacific Ocean from 

 Dixon Sound northward, and also a strip of the mainland for possibly 20 miles 

 back from the sea, following the sweep of the coast as it curves to the northwest- 

 ward to the western extremity of Alaska, form a distinct climatic division which 

 may be termed temperate Alaska. The temperature rarely falls to zero; winter 

 does not set in until about December 1, and by the last of May the snow has 

 disappeared except on the mountains. The mean winter temperature of Sitka 

 is 32.50, but little less than that of Washington, D. C. * * * The rainfall 

 of temperate Alaska is notorious the world over not only as regards the quantity 

 that falls, but also as to the manner of its falling, viz.: In long and incessant 

 rains and drizzles. Cloud and fog naturally abound, there being on an average 

 but 66 clear days in the year. 



The nesting and all other habits of the Sitka kinglet seem to be 

 similar to those of the species elsewhere, and need not be referred to 

 further here. I have been unable to locate any eggs of this sub- 

 species. 



Richard C. Harlow has sent me a nest of this kinglet, taken by C. 

 DeB. Greene on Porcher Island, one of the Queen Charlottes, in June 

 1921. At the time it held broken eggshells. It was apparently 

 located like the nests of other kinglets, in the pendant twigs of 

 some species of fir or spruce, pieces of such twigs still adhering to it. 

 But no further data are available. In its present condition it is a 

 rather large, cup-shaped ball, open at the top, measuring about 4 

 by 5 inches in outside diameter and about 2 inches in height; the 

 inner cavity probably measured less than 2 inches in diameter and 

 about an inch and a half in depth. It is composed mainly of a mass 

 of mosses and lichens, much of which was probably green when used, 

 reinforced with many fine strips of shredded weed stems and many 

 fine, white, threadlike fibers. It was originally lined with feathers, 

 but these have been eaten out by moths and no trace of them remains. 



REGULUS CALENDULA OBSCURUS Ridgway 

 DUSKY KINGLET 

 HABITS 



This kinglet, found only on Guadalupe Island, is darker than even 

 the Sitka kinglet, with a shorter wing and larger bill and feet, and 

 the crown patch is more pinkish red. In fact, all the birds peculiar 

 to Guadalupe Island are darker than their nearest relatives on the 

 mainland and have shorter wings and larger bills and feet. 



Practically all we know about this insular form of the ruby-crowned 

 kinglet, which was originally described as a full species, comes from 

 Walter E. Bryant's (1887) report on the birds of that remote island. 

 Of the haunts of these birds, he says: "Frequenting more numerously 



