ECOLOGY OF ISLE ROYALE. 383 



usually occurring in small flocks of from fifteen to twenty. They were 

 found wherever suitable conditions existed, namely, coniferous habitats, 

 ns balsam, spruce, tamarack, and arbor vitae forests and swamps. 

 The birds were never shy, and were only momentarily disturbed by the 

 discharge of a gun. Their song was one of the most common sounds of 

 the forest, and is described in MCreary's notes as tsee tsee-tsee-tsee. 



Breeding Notes: A pair of Golden-crowned Kinglets were seen July 

 6 with food in their mouth and giving every indication that they had 

 young near. July 7 a pair was seen building a nest in a tall spruce. 

 The birds were gathering the moss from the ground for nesting material. 

 The nest was placed about 25 feet from the ground and was composed 

 of green mosses partially lined with a white down-like substance. The 

 site chosen was near the top of a small rocky hill where 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 examined, 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 

 4 inches in diameter, with a circular opening II/2 inches in diameter. 

 In the balsam-spruce forest near camp we found a nest containing 6 

 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 par- 

 ents were carrying small moths and other insects to the young. This 

 was a late nest, as young Kinglets had been seen early in July. The 

 nest was suspended from a couple of small limbs, was composed of gray 

 lichen and green moss, lined with Northern Hare fur, and was con- 

 siderably larger than the nest previously described, the outside depth 

 being about 6 inches. 



107. Regulus calendula (749). Ruby-crowned Kinglet. 



Eange: North America south to Guatemala, north to the Arctic 

 coast, breeding chiefly north of the United States, and in the Eocky 

 Mountains, the Sierra Nevada, and the mountains of Arizona. 



Stations : Washington Harbor, borders of clearings and forest, I, '04, 

 II, '04. 



Migrations: September 5 to 15. 



The Ruby-crowned Kinglet was rather rare, especially if compared 

 with its abundant relative, the Golden-crowned. A few were observed 

 migrating on September 5. Both males and females were found in the 

 little flock which passed slowly down the river, feeding on the insects 

 about the alder bushes ; small flocks, perhaps only families, as they seldom 

 numbered more than five or six, were seen on the 7th, 8th and 9th. The 

 birds were found again on the 12th, but this time they were much more 

 common, and considerable flocks numbering twenty-five or thirty were 

 seen. Only a few were seen on the 15th, the last day they were observed. 



108. Hylocichla fuscescens (756). Wilson's Thrush. 



Range: Eastern United States to the Plains, north to Manitoba, 

 Ontario, Anticosti, and Newfoundland. Breeds from northern New 

 Jersey and the northern part of the Lake States northward; winters 

 sparingly in Florida, but chiefly south of the United States. 



