Relation of Summer Birds to Western Adirondack Forest 443 



of dead leaves that have lodged in the base of a clump of sprouts 

 or saplings, or at the base of a branch standing upright on a prone log. 



Golden-crowned Kinglet. Rcgulus satrapa satrapa Licht. 

 Length 4. Crown orange and ycllozv, bordered by black. 



The Golden-crowned Kinglet is closely associated with spruces, 

 balsam, tamarack and hemlock. In late summer, after the young are 

 on the wing, a family group will hunt restlessly in a clump of spruce 

 or fir for many minutes, flitting from twig to twig after the manner 

 of Warblers in feeding, and uttering their thin-voiced see-dee, ac- 

 cented on the second syllable and repeated two or three times. In its 

 busy life the Golden-crowned Kinglet associates with the Chickadee 

 and the Red-breasted Nuthatch, the last named being as characteristic 

 of the virgin woodlands as the Kinglet itself. As a rule, the Golden- 

 crowned Kinglet prefers well established second growth to undis- 

 turbed primeval forest, very old burns that have been fairly re- 

 covered with mixed woods in which the conifers predominate being 

 perhaps the first choice of this diminutive dweller of the woods. It 

 chooses the fir as its usual nesting place, and forms a cradle of 

 moss, lined with feathers or fur, that partly hangs beneath the fork 

 at the end of a drooping branch. The eggs are creamy white, pro- 

 fusely spotted. 



Chickadee. Penthestes atricapillus atricapillus (Linn.) 



Length 5.5. Light gray and white, with a black cap and throat ; flanks 

 brownish. 



The Chickadee hunts in all kinds of places and on every sort of 

 tree, but seems to prefer hardwood scrub.- It calls its name every 

 few moments and also utters a quiet little phrase somewhat like 

 tsick-a-dce-purrt, variously modified, and heard when several are 

 foraging in company. In the mating season or when the Chickadee 

 desires companionship it calls pec-zvee in a slow, plaintive tone, 

 each syllable lengthened arid the first emphasized, which amateurs 

 frequently mistake for the call of a Woodpecker or a Phoebe. A 

 good imitation of this will often bring a solitary or curious Chickadee 

 within arm's length of the whistler. The nest is made in a natural 

 cavity in a tree, or more often in a Woodpecker's abandoned nest- 

 hole, and contains sometimes as many as eight red-speckled eggs. 



The Hudsonian Chickadee has been reported in this western 

 district, but I did not see it. 



Red-breasted Nuthatch. Sitta canadensis Linn. 



Length 4.6. Bluish gray above, reddish brozvn below; black stripe 

 through the eye and white line over it. 



This Nuthatch is naturally a bird of the higher virgin forest, and 

 here frequents its margins, near open places. Its piping nasal call 

 is one of the regular sounds of the woodlands, frequently inter- 

 rupted by the louder scolding of the red squirrel or the rippling 

 song of the Winter Wren. When a patch of virgin forest is bord- 



