140 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



the spot, but owing to its location some 20 feet from the main trunk, 

 4 feet from the end of the branch and 30 feet from the ground I could 

 get no nearer than the branches just below, which sagged so that I was 

 left ten feet below the coveted spot. Not wishing to disturb them in 

 their nest building, as I then thought it was, I contented myself with 

 examining it with my field glass, which revealed, hidden deep among 

 the pendent twigs, what seemed to be a bunch of brown moss the size 

 of a cantaloupe. 



It was the 17th of June before I could again return, and on arriving 

 at the grove immediately climbed to the nest, a bit of acrobatic work in 

 no sense easy, and found the nest, empty! On returning to the ground 

 however, I located the male singing in a hemlock tree near by, and on 

 close scrutiny I saw that he and his mate were engaged in feeding a 

 young one who was calling incessantly for food. I climbed softly up 

 and to my great surprise found six fuzzy little Kinglets perched along 

 a dead branch and keeping up a constant twittering. They were not in 

 the least afraid of me and after I had settled myself comfortably, the 

 parent birds returned and began feeding them. They were not fed 

 often but took a good deal at a time, the commonest fare being those 

 green canker worms which so often infest evergreen trees. After 

 watching them for some time I made a sudden move to slap a mosquito 

 and the whole brood, who had for some time past been watching sus- 

 piciously, fluttered off wildly to another tree. 



The next week I came back and took the nest. It was semi-pensile, 

 hung directly under the branch and supported by the hanging twigs 

 which* were skillfully woven into the sides. The whole structure 

 measured 3 inches wide by 4 inches deep, the cavity being 1 1-3 by 1 3- 

 4 inches. Upon examination it proved to be composed of the tall, soft 

 moss, so often met with in damp places. Inside there was a thick lin- 

 ing of numerous kinds of hairs. Some kinds which I identified by com- 

 parison were: horses, cows, gray squirrels, and skunks, but how they 

 procured the latter kinds I cannot imagine. 



The last I saw of the family they were feeding in the hemlocks some 

 distance from their home and all seemed to be in good healthy con- 

 dition, this was about June 26th. I am now impatiently waiting next 

 spring in hopes of their return, when, if they nest in a more favorable 



position, I hope to get some satisfactory photographs. 



Stanley Cobb, Adams St., Milton, Mass. 



