ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 6-No. 8 
5J5 
Golden-crowned Kinglet, 
ITS NKST AND EGGS. 
In the Ooi.oGisT for April, 1881, under 
tlie head of “ Recent Publications,” you 
mention part No. VIII of Gentry's “Ulus 
trations of Nests and Kggs of Birds of the 
United States,” and refer particularly to the 
nest and eggs of the Regulus ju/ra/a which 
is figured in that work’. 
Mr. Gentry says that the birds “ were not 
setn by Mr Merrill, yet by the pretty sure 
evidence of exclusion they cannot belong 
to any other species than the one under 
consideration.” “We are at a loss to de¬ 
termine,” you say “the meaning of ‘evi¬ 
dence of exclusion ’ in a connection where 
we are most interested.” 
.\s the matter may be of some general 
interest to your readers, I would state that 
the eggs and nest under consideration were 
identified as Golden-crowned Kinglets by 
the late Dr. I hos. M. Brewer, after careful 
examination and comparison with the eggs 
of the European species, and with eggs of 
Regulus calendula of this country. 
His grounds for this belief were fully 
given in the Bull, of the Nutt. Orn. Club 
tor April, 1870, wherein he says; 
“ My reasons for supposing the nest and 
eggs to belong to this species are that this 
bird is a not uncommon summer resident 
in that neighborhood—i e Bangor, Me.;— 
that from their size and markings they can 
not well belong to any other species; and 
because, while the egg so closely resembles 
those of R. cristatus —to which bird’y?. 
satrapa is also very closely allied—as to be 
hardly distinguishable from them, it is also 
essentially different from the egg of R. cal¬ 
endula, which more nearly resembles the 
eggs of R. ignicapillus " He then gives a 
careful statement of his comparisons and 
examinations, which are of particular in¬ 
terest but cannot berpiotetl here. In a let¬ 
ter written to me on January i8th, 1879, he 
“^ays; “ I think there can he no doubt that 
your eggs are those of R. satrapa-,” and in 
otiier letters rer eived fr m him he has sp )k¬ 
en of them as though unquestionably those 
of the bird mentioned. 
In the Boston Natural History Society’s 
proceedings for May, 1870, he speaks of 
this nest and eggs without a question of 
their correct identification March 12th,. 
1879, he wrote me : “ I was in Washington 
a few days since. I staid in Prof S. F 
Baird’s family. The professor wanted me 
to write to you to see if you would be will¬ 
ing to part with four eggs of your set of 
the R. satrapa ” I merely mention this 
fact to show that Prof. Baird, as well as Dr. 
Brewer, w’as satisfied by the “ evidence of 
exclusion ” that the eggs were those of the 
R. satrapa, and had perfect confidence in 
the correctness of the identification. 
There has, perhaps, never been a gentle¬ 
man in our country whose opinions on 
Oological subjects were of more value than 
Dr. T. M. Brewer’s, and his decisions— 
based upon the evidence of exclusion— 
that this nest and eggs '‘cannot well be¬ 
long to any other species of bird than the 
Golden crowmed YJ\x\^>t\.{^Regulus satrapci)'^ 
will be sure to be appreciated as it de¬ 
serves.— Harry Merrill, Bangor, Me. 
The nest of Golden crowned Kinglets 
referred to was found in June, 1876, near 
this city—Bangor, Maine. I obtained the 
nest and eggs of the person who found them, 
but the bird was not secured. The nest 
was placed about six feet from the ground 
in a mass of the “thick growth ” found in 
our fir trees. It contained ten eggs varying 
in dimensions from .52X.41 inches to.47X.39' 
inches The ground color is white with 
shell marks of purplish slate and a few ob¬ 
scure superficial markings of deep buff, 
giving to the ground the effect of creami 
color. [This description is that given by 
Dr. Brewer, who examined them with a 
piwerful magnifier.] The nest was com¬ 
posed chiefly of moss, forming a mass 
about four and one-half inches in diameter. 
The ojrening was at the top, about one and 
one-half inches across and two inches deep. 
It was lined with hair aid feathers. 
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