GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET. 103 
and not mere superficial stains (this has been doubted by some writers), they are, as 
a rule, so fine and so little darker than the ground-color, that many of the eggs when 
viewed at a distance or in a poor light appear brownish cream-color and immaculate. 
“In both nests the eggs, too numerous to find sufficient space for accommodation 
on the bottom of the nest, were piled in two layers, one above the other. 
“All these nests were found by watching the birds while building, a task of no 
slight difficulty in dense spruce woods where the light was dim, even at noonday, and 
mosquitos were so numerous as to make it a torture to remain still for any considerable 
length of time. Moreover, the movements of the little archite¢t were erratic and 
puzzling to the last degree. One moment fluttering at the end of a branch, her bill 
filled with a mass of building material, or tugging at the loose end of a shred of bark 
or moss, the next hidden from sight among the dense spruce foliage, now flitting rapidly 
from tree to tree, again dashing back and forth between two adjoining trees, the female 
would often appear and disappear a dozen times and at as many different places in the 
course of a minute or two. ‘The chief difficulty, of course, was to make out just when 
and where she deposited her burden, which often vanished in the most unaccountable 
way. We finally found, that her almost invariable custom was to approach the nest 
by short flights and devious courses, and upon reaching it dash in, deposit and arrange 
her load in from two to four seconds, and at once dart off in search for more. 
“The song begins with a succession of five or six fine, shrill, high-pitched, some- 
what faltering notes, and ends with a short, rapid, rather explosive warble. The 
opening notes are given in a rising key, but the song falls rapidly at the end. The 
whole may be expressed as follows: tzee, tzee, tzee, tzee, ti, ti, ter—ti-ti-ti-ti. Besides 
the song both birds uttered frequently a low ti, ti, ti, which seemed to serve as a call to 
indicate one another’s presence or position.’’* 
A variety, R. satrapa olivacea Batrp, occurs in the Coast Range of California. 
R. obscurus Rrpcw. is to be found on Guadelupe Island, Lower California. R. Cuvieri 
Aup., described by Audubon, has never been observed by an other ornithologist. 
NAMES: GoLDEN-cRowNED KinGueET, Golden-crested Kinglet, American Golden-crested Kinglet, Fiery-crowned 
Wren.—Satrap (Germ.).—Roitelet huppé (Le M.) 
SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Sylvia regulus Wils. A. O. I. (1808). Regulus cristatus Bartr., Trav. Fla. (1791), 
Bonap., Aud., Nutt. Regulus tricolor Nutt., Man. (1823). REGULUS SATRAPA Licut. (1823). 
DESCRIPTION: Above, olive-green; the dusky wings edged with yellowish; two white cross-bars on the 
wings. Below, yellowish-white; crown of head in the male marked with flame color, bordered in front 
and on the sides with black, this again with hoary-whitish. Bill and feet blackish. Female and young 
similar, but lacking the fiery patch in the yellow field. 
A little smaller than the Ruby-crown. Length about 4 in.; wing about 2: tail, 1.70 inches. 
* See “Auk’’. Vol. V, 1888, p. 337—344. 
