282 
SINGING BIRDS. 
it would appear, sometimes met with them in Pennsylvania 
even in summer ; but as far as I can learn, they are never ob- 
served in Massachusetts at that season, and with their nest and 
habits of incubation we are unacquainted. In the fall they 
seek society apparently with the Titmouse and Golden-Crested 
Kinglet, with whom they are intimately related in habits, man- 
ners, and diet ; the whole forming a busy, silent, roving com- 
pany, with no object in view but that of incessantly gleaning 
their now scanty and retiring prey. So eagerly, indeed, are 
they engaged at this time that scarcely feeling sympathy 
for each other, or willing to die any death but that of famine, 
they continue almost uninterruptedly to hunt through the same 
tree from which their unfortunate companions have just fallen 
by the destructive gun. They only make at this time, occa- 
sionally, a feeble chirp, and take scarcely any alarm, however 
near they are observed. Audubon met with this species breed- 
ing in Labrador, but did not discover the nest ; its song, he 
remarks, is fully as sonorous as that of the Canary, — as pow- 
erful and clear, and even more varied. 
This species probably breeds from about latitude 45° to the 
lower fur countries, and on the higher mountains to the southward. 
Few nests have been discovered. Rev. Frank Ritchie found one 
near Lennoxville, Quebec, and Harry Austen has taken another 
near Halifax, in which he found ii eggs. 
The full song is much more elaborate and more beautiful than 
the bird has usually been credited with, for it has been described 
by writers who have heard only the thin, weak notes more gener- 
ally uttered. Those who have compared it to the Skylark and the 
Canary have not grossly exaggerated. 
Note. — Cuvier’s Kinglet {Regulus cuvieri) was placed on 
the “Hypothetical List ” by the A. O. U. Committee. The single 
bird shot by Audubon in Pennsylvania is the only specimen that 
has been obtained. 
