The Western Golden-crowned Kinglet 
fellowship of the snow-banks, and I have seen a bird quit her nest 
at the base of a Shasta fir tree and go flitting about over the snow, glean¬ 
ing a snack of benumbed beetles and fallen flies. 
Whether reared in such a ghostly silence as this, or cradled in a cranny 
which overlooks a brawling mountain stream, the baby Solitaires are as 
solemn as their parents and as phlegmatic. The youngsters whose por¬ 
traits appear herewith were five in number—an unusually large family, by 
the way—who submitted to various photographic indignities, until the 
eldest suddenly resolved, launched out for “Kingdom Come,” and, while 
half a dozen sympathetic Sierrans held their breath, avoided Kings River, 
which roared distractingly below, fetched a compass midair, and made a 
safe landing in deep shrubbery. The spell was broken, and before you 
could say “Jack Robinson" the nest was empty, and the quintette, all 
likewise successful, had become Solitaires, indeed. 
No. 155 
Western Golden-crowned Kinglet 
A. O. U. No. 748. Regulus regulus olivaceus Baird. 
Description. —Adult male: Crown-patch (partially concealed) bright orange or 
flame-color; a border of plain yellow feathers overlying the orange on the sides; these in 
turn bordered by black in front and on sides; extreme forehead white, connecting with 
white superciliar}' stripe; a dark line through eye; above bright olive-green, becoming 
alive-gray on cervix and sides of head and neck; wing-quills and tail-feathers much 
edged with light greenish yellow, the former in such fashion as to throw into relief a 
cfusky spot on middle of secondaries; greater coverts tipped with yellow or whitish; 
linderparts sordid white, sometimes dusky-washed, or touched on sides with olivaceous. 
Adult female: Similar, but with crown-patch plain yellow instead of orange. Immature: 
Without crown-patch or bordering black, gradually acquiring these through gradation of 
color. Length about 101.6 (4.00);wing55 (2.16);tail40 (1.57);bill 7.5 (.29); tarsus 17 (.67). 
Recognition Marks. —Pygmy size; orange, or yellow, and black of crown 
distinctive. 
Nesting. — Nest: lashed to and largely concealed by drooping twigs on under 
side of fir bough near tip, an exquisite ball of mosses, lichens, liverwort, fine grasses, 
etc.; bound together with cobwebs and lined with the softest materials, vegetable 
down, cow-hair, and feathers, 3L2-7 inches in diameter, and placed from five feet 
tip. Eggs: 7-9, rarely 10 (one of 11 on record), sometimes in two layers , dull white, 
cream white, or sordid cream-color, finely sprinkled, or not, with pale wood-brown or 
dull rufous, and sometimes, obscurely, with vinaceous gray. Av. size 13.7 x 10.2 
(.54 x .40). Season: April-July 1; two broods. 
Range of Regulus regulus .—The Palaearctic Region; in North America, breeding 
mainly north of the LTnited States and in the mountains of the West; south in winter 
to the Gulf Coast and the highlands of Mexico and Guatemala. 
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