368 THE ANTHU.NV \ 1K|(U. 



DiiriiiL; tin uiiiiii ii mingles freely with the local ii'h.|» m Ixuif^ki^ ami 

 Ciiickack'cs. ami keeps largely to the depths of tir trees. When moving al>oiit 

 silently, it hears a striking resemhiance to the Knhy -crowned Kinglet. It is, 

 of course, slightly larger and nuich nmre deliherate, lacking es|)ecially the 

 wing-tlirt of the Kaiserkin. The region aljont the eye is more hroadly 

 whitish, and the wing-hars concede a <li(Terencc u|>on ins(H-ction. hut the 

 resemhiance is so close as altogether to deceive the imwary. 



In spring the bird separates itself from its late conii)anions. and liegins to 

 ex()l<ire the hmlding alders and maples. .\s the season advances the bird plants 

 itself in some thicket and complains by the hour in strange, monotonous, unvi- 

 reonine notes. The songs vary endlessly in different individuals, but have this 

 in conimon, that they are a deliberate, uinarying succession of double notes, 



usually, but not always, of a slightly nasal character. Cliu-uYcin chii- 



'ccnii chii-ivccni - - ad lib., is the common ty])e: Pii-chccun 



pii-chccan piichccai'i, is a French variation: Poo-ccf^ - - - poo-ccp' and 



jilrc? - jiircc' - jiircc' are tyjjcs lacking the nasal cpiality. Only once I heard 

 the notes pronounced quite ra])idly, pr-ri/, pc-cg'. pc-cfl . pc-cg' pc-cg' , ad 

 inthiiliiiii. or rather ad adrciiluui sliott/inii. Occasionally the first syllable is 

 accented: as, I pc)ilu'c-oi' or chcc-ou,chcc-oo. 



Before he has found a male .Antiiony roams about with some degree of 

 restlessness, shifting his burden of song from place to place with a view to 

 effect, and uttering now and then coaxing little retpiests which are certainly 

 meant to win the heart of the lady in hiding. This .squeaking note is sometimes 

 raised to the dignity of song, at which times it is not unlike the whining of a 

 dog, a most exiraonlinary sound to come from so tiny a throat. .'\nd if one 

 mentions a chirp, or chuck, like that of a Red wing Blackbird on a small 

 scale, we have most of the representative etTorts of this eccentric genius. 



Only one nest of this subspecies has been reported to date, that discovered 

 by Mr. C. \V. Bowles, on June 2\. iS<)7. near South T.icoma. It was placed 

 nine feet up in a young fir. where it hung sns|)cnded by two small twigs. 

 ICxternally it was composed entirely of a long hanging moss, some variety of 

 I'snca. very thickly and closely interwoven, being thus cons])icuously devoid 

 of such exterior decorations as other X'ireos provide. Inside was a carefully 

 prepared bed of fine dry grasses, upon which lay two eggs half incubated. 



"The female bird was on the nest when first seen and, unlike the majority 

 of our \'ireos, flushed the instant tiie ascent of the tree was attempted. From 

 the nest she tiew al)out twenty feet into a neighlioring fir, where she looked 

 down upon our ojjerations with apparently no concern whatever. Beyond 

 rearranging her feathers from time to time, there was nothing to indicate 

 that she had a nest anywhere in (he vicinity, as she made no sound or com- 

 plaint of any kind. Neither was there any oi the nervous hf>pping from 



