LAND BIRDS. 703 
the forest was not very dense. The nest was nearly finished and was 
suspended from two limbs near the trunk of the tree. When next ex- 
amined, July 21, it contained eight eggs. It was now composed of green 
ground moss, together with the long gray strands of the tree lichen, and 
was lined with fur from the Northern Hare. Its dimensions were four 
inches deep, and four inches in diameter, with a circular opening one and 
one-half inches in diameter. In the balsam-spruce forest near camp we 
found a nest containing six young August 10. The structure was placed 
about thirty feet from the ground and five feet from the top of a tall, 
slender spruce. Both parents were carrying small moths and other insects 
to the young. This was alate nest, as young Kinglets had been seen early 
in July. The nest was suspended from a couple of small limbs, was com- 
posed of gray lichen and green moss, lined with Northern Hare fur, and 
was considerably larger than the nest previously described, the outside 
ae being about six inches” (Adams, Rep. Mich. Geol. Surv., 1908, p. 
Kumlien and Hollister state that “The Golden-crowned Kinglet breeds 
along the south shore of Lake Superior in Ontonagon county, Michigan” 
(Birds of Wisconsin, p. 125), but we are informed by Mr. Hollister that 
this statement is based solely on the statements of the late Professor 
Kkumlien, and no specific instance is recorded. Mr. William Brewster 
found the species nesting in Worcester county, Mass., in June 1888, and 
secured three nests, two of which contained nine eggs each. These nests 
were placed on or in the horizontal branches of spruces, 50 or 60 feet from 
the ground, and not far from the tops of the trees. They were composed 
of green mosses and grayish lichens, lined with delicate strips of inner 
bark and fine black rootlets, to which were added numerous feathers of 
the Ruffed Grouse, Hermit Thrush, Oven-bird and others. The nests 
were open at the top, but deeply hollowed and so over-arched by feathers 
about the rim of the nest as to almost conceal the eggs. 
These were cream-colored, thinly sprinkled, or speckled with markings of 
pale brown and lavender, over the entire surface but most thickly at the 
larger ends of the eggs, the markings so pale, however, that some of the eggs 
appeared to be unspotted. They average about .56 by .45 inches. Mr. 
Brewster states that ‘in both nests the eggs, too numerous to find sufficient 
space for their accommodation in the bottom of the nest, were piled in 
two layers one above the other. In the second nest there were five eggs 
in the lower and four in the upper layer. In the first nest the number 
of eggs in the two layers was not noted” (Auk, Vol. V, 1888, p. 341). Mr. 
Brewster describes the song as follows: ‘The song begins with a succes- 
sion of five or six fine, shrill, high-pitched, somewhat 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” 
(Auk, V, 1888, 343). 
The food of this bird consists almost entirely of insects and their eggs, 
and it cannot be doubted that it is decidedly beneficial to the farmer and 
fruit grower. It is often seen eating plant-lice and is a common bird 
in the orchards during migration, on such occasions spending much time 
about the opening buds and among the terminal twigs where it collects 
large quantities of harmful insects. 
