264 THE \vksti:k\ (".( )I,i)i:n-ci<()\\ nkb kinclet. 



neij^lilxir, iiilcrnipii-d ;in(l fr.'ifiiiK-iilary, to hi- .sure, but la- lias all day to it — 

 Iss, tss-tsif'-iliif'. /.V('<A-. li yai iltaw ti". mar. /.v//' can Ik- luailc t<> express 

 viyinous (lisa|)i)ruvai. 



Concerning tlie "song" one is a little puz/le<l liow to reixirt. One hears. 

 \\i) iloulit, many little snatches anti phrases which have in them something of 

 the (|uality 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 m.iting season, but, as it were, reminiscently, mere by- 

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

 tem])ted to believe that the (lold-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 <if life which reacts 

 most certainly upon the passion of song. .\nd then it is lur fault, anyway. 

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

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



It remained for Mr. Bowles, after years of untiring effort, to disct)ver the 

 tirst nest of this western variety. And then it came by way of revelation — a 

 lir branch caught against the evening sky and scrutinized mechanically afTord- 

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

 Investigation revealed a ball of moss matched ti> 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. 



The.se birtls probably nest at any height in the heaviest lir timl)er; but, 

 because they are relati\ely so infinitesimal, it is idle to look for the nests except 

 at the lower levels, and in ])laces where the forest area has been reduced to 

 groves and thickets. The boundaries of the |)rairic country alniut Centralia 

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

 S])ruccs attain a height of only a hundred feet or such a matter, and occur in 

 loose <)pen groves which invite inspection. Here, too, the Kinglets may Ik; 

 noteil 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 arc 

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

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

 time one of the birds by a muffled squeak announces a Ix'akful. and suggests 

 a return: the other acquiesces and they set ofT 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 chntip en route, and they are all too easily lost to 

 sight long before the home tree is reached. 



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

 ( higher, no doubt, if ones eye-sight avails i but always on the under side of a 

 fir limb, and usually where the foliage is nattirally tieiise. The nest ball is a 



