THE AUK : 



A Q^UARTERLY JOURNAL OF 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



VOL. V. October, 1888. No. 4. 



BREEDING OF THE GOLDEN-CRESTED KINGLET 

 (^REGULUS SATRAP A) IN WORCESTER 

 COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS, WITH A DE- 

 SCRIPTION OF ITS NEST AND 

 EGGS. 



BV WILLIAM BREWSTER. 



During a visit to Winchendon, Worcester County, Massa- 

 chusetts, in the latter part of June, 1S87, I found, among other 

 interesting things, a pair of Golden-crested Kinglets with young, 

 the latter only a few days from the nest. They were in dense 

 woods of mixed white pine (Z*. strobus) and spruce {^A. nigra) 

 on low, rather swampy ground. A careful search through sev- 

 eral similar woods in the neighborhood failed to reveal any 

 more birds of this species. Perhaps there were no others in 

 1887, for Mr. C. E. Bailey, who was my companion on 

 that occasion, met with none either before or after my visit, 

 although he spent most of the season collecting about Winchen- 

 don. Over the very same ground, however, in June, 18S8, I 

 found no less than six pairs of these Kinglets and, with the assis- 

 tance of Messrs. C. E. Bailey, S. W. Denton, and H. M. Spel- 

 man, secured three of their nests, two with sets of nine eggs each. 



As the published descriptions of the nesting of this species 

 are somewhat meagre and more or less conflicting, it seems 

 worth while to treat the present specimens at some length. 



The first nest was found June 13, 1888, when the birds were 



