July, 1902. 
THK CONDOR 
81 
backed thrush {Hylocichla ustulata) con- 
taining four eggs, placed in a small, 
dense fir tree in a meadow. This ap- 
parently extends the vertical breeding 
range of this species, since the Big 
Tree hermit thrush appears at less than 
1,000 feet above Echo. An interesting 
nest of the mountain bluebird (Sialia 
arctica) was also found by Mr. Taylor 
at Echo, built in a fence post beside the 
road and containing seven eggs. 
A day was spent at Echo Lake (alti- 
tude 7600 feet) about the borders of 
which the unmelted snow of winter 
still lay, and a passing band of 
Clarke nutcrackers served to accentu- 
ate the impression that we were in the 
boreal zone. Journeying back to Echo 
two nests of the Big Tree thrush 
{Hylocichla gidtata seqjioiensis) were 
discovered. Mr. Taylor found one 
rather conspicuously located ten feet 
up in a young tamarack pine beside 
the road. It contained three eggs quite 
well incubated. A short distance 
farther I secured a nest with four eggs 
about one-third incubated, built only 
two feet up in a small tamarack sapling. 
Both nests were built in trees directly 
next to the stage road, where the heat 
and summer’s dust would seemingly, 
prove undesirable to a bird of a thrush’s 
tendencies. In both instances the birds 
had slipped from their nests before we 
found them. The nests were deeply 
cupped and substantial!}^ built. This 
was on June 17. 
The Big Tree thrush apparently 
sings but infrequently during the heat 
of the da}', but for a few hours preced- 
ing twilight it makes the mountain 
meadows resound with rare melody. 
On June 7 Mr. Hanford secured a Lin- 
coln sparrow (^Melospiza lincohii) on a 
meadow at 7,200 feet elevation, where 
it was probably about to breed. On 
June 1 9 near the summit a western 
goshawk {Accipiter atricapillus siriatii- 
liis) flew acro.ss the stage road in front 
of us, disappearing into the timber. 
Mr. L. E. Taylor collected two sets of 
Calaveras warbler, one on May 27 at 
Eyffe and another on June i near 
Pacific. 
Nesting of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. 
HY H. F. B..\TI.RY, SANT.-V CRUZ, CAI,. 
D LRINO a season of “experience” 
and observation in Alaska I was 
fortunate enough to take the nest 
and eggs of the ruby-crowned 
kinglet {Regitlus calendula calendula'). 
The birds were abundant during the 
summer months in the neighborhood of 
Kenai, Cook’s Inlet, where I was 
located, and bred in the dense spruce 
timber. 
Although I spent much time looking 
I was never able to find but one nest. 
On May 15, 1901, while going through 
the woods I noticed a kinglet carrying 
material into the top of a tall spiuce 
and I watched her. She was very busy. 
The nest was not visible on account of 
the thick foliage, but I noted the place, 
marked the tree, and blazed a trail to 
it. Two weeks later. May 28, I revisit- 
ed the spot but the birds were not about 
and I could flush nothing out of the 
tree. However, I could hear the male 
bird repeating his whistling song, very 
much in the style of the olive-sided fly- 
catcher, from the top of the tallest tree 
in the vicinity. His note can be heard 
as far as the olive-sided flycatcher’s and 
is all out of proportion to the size of the 
bird. 
I decided to wait a while longer be- 
fore investigating the nest. June 6 
when 1 jarred the tree again the bird 
flew out. The mosquitoes w'ere terri- 
bly numerous and hostile by this time, 
and I reluctantly removed my head 
covering, before ascending the tree, to 
prevent its getting torn on the short 
wiry branches. The nest was about 
thirty feet up where the branches did 
