FAR AND NEAR 



deeply excavated in trunk or branch of tree, wood- 

 peckers are beyond the reach of both beak and claw. 



The day I saw the winter wren I saw two golden- 

 crowned kinglets fly from one sycamore to another 

 in an open field, uttering their fine call-notes. That 

 so small a body can brave the giant cold of our win- 

 ters seems remarkable enough. These are mainly 

 birds of the evergreens, although at times they fre- 

 quent the groves and the orchards. 



How does the ruby-crowned kinglet know he has 

 a brilliant bit of color on his crown which he can 

 uncover at will, and that this has great charms for 

 the female? During the rivalries of the males in 

 the mating season, and in the autumn also, they 

 flash this brilliant ruby at each other. I witnessed 

 what seemed to be a competitive display of tliis 

 kind one evening in November. I was walking along 

 the road, when my ear was attracted by the fine, 

 shrill lisping and piping of a small band of these 

 birds in an apple-tree. I paused to see what was the 

 occasion of so much noise and bluster among these 

 tiny bodies. There were four or five of them, all 

 more or less excited, and two of them especially so. 

 I think the excitement of the others was only a 

 reflection of that of these two. These were hopping 

 around each other, apparently peering down upon 

 something beneath them. I suspected a cat con- 

 cealed behind the wall, and so looked over, but 

 there was nothing there. Observing them more 



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