44 IN BIRD LAND. 
still in a dense portion of them, the colony had 
taken up a temporary abode. Here they remained 
for over a week, and then, on the twenty-ninth of the 
month, which was a rainy day, they shifted back to 
their old tryst, while scarcely a bird was to be found 
in the locality they had just left. Thus by caprice, 
or on account of the exigencies of food, they oscil- 
lated from place to place. 
There were some birds here all winter that were 
not found during the previous winter — that of 
1889-1890. The golden-crowned kinglet was one. 
Every day, rain or shine, warm or cold, he flitted 
about so cheerfully and with so innocent an air 
that I often spoke to him as if he were a real 
person; and he appreciated my words of praise, 
too, without doubt, for he would come scurrying 
near, disporting his head so that I could catch the 
gleam of his amber coronal, with its golden patch 
for a centre-piece. Then there was that quaint 
little genius, the brown creeper, hugging the trunks 
of the trees and saplings, and tracing the gullies of 
the bark as he sought for such food as he relished. 
See him turn his cunning head from side to side to 
peer under a loose scale ! 
Among my most pleasant winter companions were 
the black-capped chickadees or tomtits. Not for 
anything would I cast a reflection upon these en- 
gaging birds, but candor compels me to say that 
they seem to be somewhat fickle; that is, I cannot 
always tell where to find them, or if they will let 
themselves be found at all. Early in the spring of 
