346 LAND BIRDS 



now the flocks separate, numbers dropping out on the 

 way to nest in lower altitudes, and by the time the 

 timber line is reached the birds are scattered into small 

 companies of three or four. By June, nesting sites are 

 chosen, — if, indeed, the same ones are not used each 

 year, — and each little pair is well settled in housekeep- 

 ing. At Lake Tahoe a hollow post several feet out in 

 the water held a nest of these gray midgets, the entrance 

 being a crevice scarcely large enough for a mouse. Both 

 birds worked busily carrying feathers into this crevice 

 until it seemed there must be at least a peck of them 

 tucked away inside. Although I stood in a boat with 

 hand resting*^ on the post not a foot from their doorway, 

 they came and went as unconcernedly as if no one 

 were within miles of them ; and when the young were 

 hatched, the same winsome trust was displayed when 

 an intruder visited the nest. 



Another nest found, June 14, ten feet from the ground 

 in a dead pine was also entered through a crevice ; the 

 birds displayed the same fearlessness, going inside with 

 food, while the bird-lover stood on her horse's back 

 and tried to make the opening large enough to admit a 

 friendly though curious hand. The brave little bird 

 would light on the trunk just above the nest hole, and, 

 running quickly down, dodge in when the fingers of the 

 investigator were pulling at the crevice. Under such 

 circumstances only a hard-hearted collector would per- 

 sist in bothering the courageous parents. So, with- 

 drawing to a short distance, she kept watch to 

 learn what food was brought and how often. Both 



