May, 1908 THREE NESTS OF NOTE FROM NORTHERN CATIFORNIA 123 



waited his return the subdued notes of a Western Golden-crowned Kinglet caused 

 me to look to the top branches of a fir close by. I looked till my neck ached, but 

 as usual this green mite of a bird that nature so skilfully blends with the tint of 

 the forest was everywhere but the place I looked for him. However, as I was 

 about to give up the search he flew down into a tan-oak. Following close after 

 him I soon found him clinging to the underside of a branch, and blazed away. He 

 silently left the tree without a feather disturbed. Again following to a large ash I 

 was about to pull on him with the other barrel, when I noticed another Kinglet 

 join him and I stood close to the trunk to watch them. 



If it had not been for my bad judgment, a defective shell, or probably more 

 providence than anything, there would have been no cause to write these notes. 

 Flying down to within five feet of my head the mate began tugging at some moss 

 which grew in clusters on the trunk, and immediately a mental picture of a partly 

 constructed nest flashed across my mind. It was hard to suppress an inclination to 

 turn my head in search of it, which action would certainly have spoiled any chance 

 of its discovery. But I obeyed the instinct to freeze, and stood afraid even to wink 

 until the bird fluttered over my head with a few timid peeps sixty feet up in a tall 

 fir and disappeared into a cluster of small branches on the underside and close to 

 the end of a large overhanging limb. 



About this time Taylor appeared on the scene with a fine male Pileated and we 

 exchanged congratulations. For about a half hour we stayed in this spot watching 

 the Kinglets make trip after trip to their nest which was absolutely invisible from 

 any point of view. But it was there, that was sure; and for the fact that the birds 

 had not the slightest regard for our presence, it seemed a certainty that a little 

 patience on our part would mean the nest and eggs of Regiihis satrapa olivaceus. 

 Much satisfied with the prospects in view we resumed our way to the coast and by 

 noon were in the midst of tangles of blackberry thickets with Sparrows piping all 

 about us; but with all this encouragement not a nest was found, until we again 

 made the trip on the second of June when we took three rich sets. 



Meantime the Kinglets were not seen making trips to their home with building 

 material as they had done on the day of finding the nest; in fact only once did I hear 

 them in the vicinity and then neither of them were seen. Evidently they must 

 have been adding the last finishing touches when I first saw them. Much to our 

 regret we had a limited amount of time to stay on the South Fork; business com- 

 pelled us to break camp on the 8th of June. So the day before, we were obliged to 

 pay our last visit to the "Kinglet tree". A full set was hardly expected, two or three 

 eggs would answer a good purpose, and the anticipation from this thought hurried 

 us across the open glade to the tall fir. 



Bird life was unusually quiet, probably due to a thick fog that floated up the 

 gulches from the ocean below and reaching the ridge would spread 

 its misty blanket over the timber where it hung until the warm rays of the noon 

 sun melted it into space. On one occasion it became so damf owing to a fog of 

 this sort which managed to get down into the canyon one night, that waking up 

 half drenched we decided it would be more comfortable around a camp fire than 

 to attempt sleep in miniature lakes of fog. And sitting by a smouldering fire we 

 smoked and were smoked, till the first sign of morning gave us a chance to start 

 another day. 



But back to the tall fir and the Kinglets: After exchanging ideas as to which 

 was the best way of getting to the nest we decided to both climb to the limb in 

 which it was placed and take a chance at crawling down the limb beneath. Taking 

 a coil of stout cord I fastened one end as near the nest as I could reach and tossing 



