58 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 6-No. 8. 



Golden-crowned Kinglet. 



ITS NKST AND EGGS. 



In the OoLOGiST for April, 1881, under 

 the head of "Recent Publications," you 

 mention part No. VIII of Gentry's " Illus 

 trations of Nests and Eggs of Birds of the 

 United States," and refer particularly to the 

 nest and eggs of the Regulus satrapa which 

 is figured in that work. 



Mr. Gentry says that the birds " were not 

 seer by Mr Merrill, yet by the pretty sure 

 evidence of exclusion they cannot belong 

 to any other species than the one under 

 consideration." "We are at a loss to de- 

 termine," you say "the meaning of 'evi- 

 dence of exclusion ' in a connection where 

 we are most interested." 



As the matter may be of some general 

 interest to your readers, I would state that 

 the eggs and nest under consideration were 

 identified as Golden-crowned Kinglets by 

 the late Dr. Thos. M. Brewer, after careful 

 examination and. comparison with the eggs 

 of the European species, and with eggs of 

 Regulus calendula of this country. 



His grounds for this belief were fully 

 given in the Bull, of the Nutt. Orn. Club 

 for April, 1870, wherein he says: 



" My reasons for supposing the nest and 

 eggs to belong to this species, are that this 

 ' bird is a not uncommon summer resident 

 in that neighborhood — i. e Bangor, Me.; — 

 that from their size and markings they can- 

 not well belong to any other species; and 

 because, while the egg so closely resembles 

 those of R. cristalus — to which bird R. 

 satrapa is also very closely allied — as to be 

 hardly distinguishable from them, it is also 

 essentially different from the egg of R. cal- 

 tndula^ which more nearly resembles the 

 eggs of R. ignicapillus " He then gives a 

 careful statement of his comparisons and 

 examinations, which are of particular in- 

 terest but cannot be quoted here. In a let- 

 ter written to me on January 18th, 1879, he 

 says: " I think llie/r can be no doubt that 

 your eggs are those of R. satrapa;" and in 

 otner letters received from him he has spok- 



en of them as though unquestionably those 

 of the bird mentioned. 



In the Boston Natural History Society's 

 proceedings for May, 1870, he speaks of 

 this nest and eggs without a question of 

 their correct identification. March 12th, 

 1879, ^''S wrote me : " I was in Washington 

 a few days since. I staid in Prof. S. F 

 Baird's family. The professor wanted me 

 to write to you to see if you would be will- 

 ing to part with four eggs of your set of 

 the R. satrapa " I merely mention this 

 fact to show that Prof. Baird, as well as Dr. 

 Brewer, was satisfied by the " evidence of 

 exclusion " that the eggs were those of the 

 R. satrapa, and had perfect confidence in 

 the correctness of the identification. 



.There has, perhaps, never been a gentle- 

 man in our country whose opinions on 

 Oological subjects were of more value than 

 Dr. T. M. Brewer's, and his decisions — 

 based upon the evidence of exclusion — 

 that this nest and eggs ''cannot well be- 

 long to any other species of bird than the 

 Golden crowned Kinglet {Regulus satrapa)" 

 will be sure to be appreciated as it de- 

 serves. — Harry- Merrill, Bangor^ Me. 



The nest of Golden crowned Kinglets 

 referred to was found in June, 1876, near 

 this city — Bangor, Maine. I obtained the 

 nest and eggs of the person who found them, 

 but the bird was not secured. The nest 

 was placed about six feet from the ground 

 in a mass of the "thick growth " found in 

 our fir trees. It contained ten eggs varying 

 in dimensions from .52X.41 inches to.47x.39 

 inches The ground color is white with 

 shell marks of purplish slate and a few ob- 

 scure superficial markings of deep buff, 

 giving to the ground the effect of cream 

 color. [This description is that given by 

 Dr. Brewer, who examined them with a 

 powerful magnifier.] The nest was com- 

 posed chiefly of moss, fo^rming a mass 

 about four and one-half inches in diameter. 

 The opening was at the top, about one and 

 one-half inches across and two inches deep. 

 It was lined with hair and feathers. 



