THE WESTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET. 



265 



wiinilcTl'iilK ci iiiipacU-d atfair of moss, both green and gi'ay. iniersperscd with 

 lixiTWiirls, dried grasses, soft weed fibers, and cow-hair. 'I'he deep depression 

 of llie nest ciip scarcely mars tlie sjjhericity of the wliole. for tlie edges are 

 broiighl well in: so mnch so. in fact, that a containing l)ranch overloaded with 

 foliage npon one side, once tipped half wa\- oxer withoui spilling the egg?. 

 The deep ca\il\- is hea\'il\- lined wilh cow-hair and ahnnilanl feathers of 



Taken near Taconia- 



NEST OF w i-.si i;k.\ 



THIS IS Till; MOST Til.* 



)i.ni;.\ CKowwED ki.nglet in i-ir liR.wcn. 



lAV niv SI-EN OF NEST OR CONTENTS FROM ANY ANCLE. 



grouse or domestic fowl. These feathers are jilaced with their soft ends pro- 

 truding, and they curl user the entrance in such fashion 4s almost ov quite iu 

 conceal the eggs. One would like to particularize at great length, for no 

 fervors of description can overstate the beauties of this Kinglet palace. 



Eggs vary in number from five to nine, seven and eight being the rule. I 

 once took a nest with eleven — one too many at the least, for it had to rest on 

 top of the others. They are not much larger than Hummingbirds' and are 

 quite as fragile. Mr. Bowles consumed twenty minutes in removing the con- 

 tents of the big nest to the collecting box ivithotit a break. The eggs vary in 



