346 LAND BIRDS 
now the flocks separate, numbers dropping out on the 
way to nest in lower altitudes, and by the time the 
timber line is reached the birds are scattered into small 
companies of three or four. By June, nesting sites are 
chosen, —if, indeed, the same ones are not used each 
year, — and each little pair is well settled in housekeep- 
ing. At Lake Tahoe a hollow post several feet out in 
the water held a nest of these gray midgets, the entrance 
being a crevice scarcely large enough for a mouse. Both 
birds worked busily carrying feathers into this crevice 
until it seemed there must be at least a peck of them 
tucked away inside. Although I stood in a boat with 
hand resting on the post not a foot from their doorway, 
they came and went as unconcernedly as if no one 
were within miles of them; and when the young were 
hatched, the same winsome trust was displayed when 
an intruder visited the nest. 
Another nest found, June 14, ten feet from the ground 
in a dead pine was also entered through a crevice; the 
birds displayed the same fearlessness, going inside with 
food, while the bird-lover stood on her horse’s back 
and tried to make the opening large enough to admit a 
friendly though curious hand. The brave little bird 
would light on the trunk just above the nest hole, and, 
running quickly down, dodge in when the fingers of the 
investigator were pulling at the crevice. Under such 
circumstances only a hard-hearted collector would per- 
sist in bothering the courageous parents. So, with- 
drawing to a short distance, she kept watch to 
learn what food was brought and how often. Both 
