76 



THE OOLOGIST. 



was built on a low branch of a pine, and 

 the male was singing directly overhead; 

 but although he waited some time, Mr. 

 Henshaw did not see the female, ' ' The 

 nest was a somewhat bulky structure, very 

 large for the size of the bird, externally 

 composed of strips of bark, and lined thick- 

 ly with feathers of the Grouse." Of the 

 eggs of this Kinglet nothing further is known. 

 Little more can be said in respect to the 

 Golden-crested Kinglet (Ref/idus satrapa, 

 Licht.). Its range is nearly as extensive, 

 but more northerly ; It does not descend in 

 winter beyond Mexico. Nothing is known 

 with certainty of its breeding anywhere in 

 the United States, although it may be foimd 

 to do so in the northern mountainous por- 

 tions. Mr. I'homas G. Gentry is confidant 

 that it nidificates in cavities in the tall trees 

 which crown the heights of Eastern Penn- 

 sylvania, despite the generally accepted no- 

 tion that it follows its foreign cousin in 

 building a pensile nest and laying white 

 eggs, finely sprinkled with buff dots, in size 

 about equal to those of Humming Birds. 

 It has also been inferred that this Kinglet 

 raises two broods in a season. Mr. Nut- 

 tall and Dr. Cooper both fioimd it feeding- 

 full-fledged young on the Columbia river, 

 on May 21st ; and Audubon observed the 

 same thing in Labrador in August. Mr. 

 Maynard found it common at Lake Umba- 

 gog, Me., in June ; he says it breeds there, 

 and that, judging from the condition of fe- 

 male specimens dissected, it deposits its eggs 

 about June 1st. Several pairs were found 

 in the thick woods there, but no nests could 

 be discovered ; he thought they built, prob- 

 ably, in the long hanging moss so abundant 

 on the trees in those northern forests. Mr. 

 Herrick puts it down positively as breeding 

 on the island of Grand Menan, and Dr. 

 I3rewer in Maine. Mr. Allen informs me 

 that he met with young attended by the pa- 

 rents, the third week in August, 1876, on 

 Mount Monadnock, New Hampshire, which 

 he has no doubt were hatched in the imme- 

 diate vicinity. Mr. J. K. Lord states that 

 these birds were abundant on Vancouver's 

 Island and the adjacent coast, where he 



found them building pensile nests suspended 

 from the tips of high pine branches, in which 

 they laid from five to seven eggs. He does 

 not describe the eggs, which was hardly to 

 be expected, perhaps, considering the half- 

 use he seems to have made of his oppor- 

 tunities. 



Herr F. "W. Baedeker has figured the 

 egg in the Journal fur Ornithologle (18- 

 56, p. 33, PI. I, Fig. 8), and also in his 

 large work on the eggs of the birds of Eur- 

 ope. Dr. Coues observes, in a pi'ivate 

 communication to me, " The plate indicates 

 a rather roundish egg, though the two spec- 

 imens figured differ noticeably in size and 

 shape ; they are spoken of in the text as 

 'niedliche kleine Eirchen mit lehmgelbeu 

 ben Flekschen auf weissen Grunde,' and 

 compared with those of other species illus- 

 trated on the same plate." 



lie{/uli(s Ck inert, described by Audu- 

 bon from a specimen taken near the banks 

 of the Schuylkill river, has remained un- 

 known to ornitholo";ists ever since. 



Iliii^ lim iii liiti. 



Eggs described in this issue : — 



Parkman's Wren, Brewer's Blackbird, 

 Red-shafted Flicker, Tufted Titmouse. 



271. Pakkman's Wren. 



This is the western A'ariety of Troglo- 

 dytes aedon, and is usually t;alled the West- 

 ern House Wren. Beyond geographical 

 distribution, this bird does not differ mate- 

 rially in habits, nest and eggs, from the 

 eastern variety. Probably they nest as a 

 rule in more secluded situations than the 

 latter. The nest is a bulky affair, formed 

 almost entirely of sticks, and lined with a 

 few feathers. It nests plentifully in the 

 boxes provided for them by man, and also 

 in knotholes, in crevices in posts, &c. 



Some of the eggs of this bird are indis- 

 tinguishable from those of the eastern va- 

 riety, still as a general thing they are a lit- 

 tle lighter, and the fine reddish dots are less 



