204 THE WESTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET. 
neighbor, interrupted and fragmentary, to be sure, but he has all day to it— 
tss, tss-tsip-clip, tseck. Ii you draw too near, tsip can be made to express 
vigorous disapproval. 
Concerning the “song” one is a little puzzled how to report. One hears, 
no doubt, many little snatches and phrases which have 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, reminiscently, 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 have fallen unto them in such pleasant places ; food and shelter are no 
problems, and there is nothing of that shock and hazard of life which reacts 
most certainly upon the passion of song. And then it is her fault, anyway. 
Phyllis would rather whisper sweet nothings in the mossy bower than be 
serenaded, never so ably. Oh, perilous house of content! 
It remained for Mr. Bowles, after years of untiring effort, to discover the 
first nest of this western variety. And then it came by way of revelation—a 
fir branch caught against the evening sky and scrutinized mechanically afford- 
ed grounds for suspicion ina certain thickening of the twigs under the midrib. 
Investigatidn revealed a ball of moss matched to a nicety of green with the 
surrounding foliage, and made fast by dainty lashings to the enveloping twigs; 
and, better yet, a basketful of eggs. 
These birds probably nest at any height in the heaviest 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 occur in 
loose open groves which invite 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 level of the eyes to fifty feet 
(higher, no doubt, if one’s eye-sight avails) but always on the under side of a 
fir limb, and usually where the foliage is naturally dense. The nest ball is a 
