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WESTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET

Other common names: Golden-crested Wren.

Museum Specimens - Longmire (2700); Ramparts Ridge (3500).

There is something very blithesome about these little "kinglets and queenlets" as they pass our windows on a cold winter morning, gleaning their hidden food from the rough-barked branches of the pines and firs. We wonder how these tiny things can stand the cold and why, at least, they don't drop down to a warmer zone, away from the Mountain's snow and storms. But they seem happy and contented, traveling about with such mites as the creepers, chickadees and nuthatches - a merry troup!

Our golden-crown dwells throughout the forests of western Washington where the woods are still natural. But they will not stand for the trees being trimmed. Much of their life is spent in the lower branches and if a section is trimmed and cleared, they simply move on, certainly not stopping to nest.

These kinglets can be identified by their tiny size and the brilliant golden crown set between two black stripes. The back and upper parts are yellowish-green, underparts whitish. They seem to enjoy company and seldom travel alone. Families of young feed with the older birds long after they leave the nest and continually beseech and beg with quivering wings for dainty morsels from the parent birds.

Nesting begins in April and few nests, if any, can equal the little mossy baskets built by these birds. The Douglas fir is usually chosen - a tree that has long, horizontal lower limbs with tiny branches near the ends hanging vertically on both sides from the main branch. Under this main branch and between the two curtains of twigs, is swung a round nest resembling a ball of moss. It is not attached to the branch but is woven into the hanging twigs, and sways in the wind as the branch moves. This delicate little cradle is lined deeply with feathers, and in it are laid from six to ten very delicate, thin-shelled eggs, cream-colored with wood brown spots, sometimes marked very faintly.

It is a treat to be able to pull the branch down gently and peer into this protected cradle full of such delicate treasures. Care should be taken not to frighten the incubating bird, for in flushing she is likely to pierce several of her eggs with her sharp claws. The best method is first to tap the tree trunk gently. One gets a thrill as she leaves the nest, not flying off but dropping almost to the ground like a falling cone - just one of their little tricks!

Kinglets have two broods a season so that perhaps sixteen young birds a year from one pair help to recruit the ranks that throughout the year work so hard and do so much good in protecting our forests from insect evil.

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SITKA KINGLET

Other common names: Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Museum Specimens - Tahoma Creek (2100).

In winter we have a visitor from the north, a prince of the royal blood - the Sitka kinglet. He wears a crown of ruby red, but the rest of his uniform is much like that of the golden-crown - yellowish-green above, white or buff below.

The summer home of the Sitka kinglet is in Alaska and British Columbia, but in winter they drop down to Washington and join the ranks of our kinglets, creepers and chickadees. They are much like our bird in size end habits, but differ greatly in song. While our golden-crown has not much more than a "tse-tse" note, the Sitka or ruby-crowned has a very melodious warble, loud at times for so small a bird, that carries and penetrates to the surrounding woodland. It is really a mystery how such volume can come from such a tiny throat, but it is very beautiful.

The nesting habits are much like those of the golden-crown. The eggs have more of a white ground, faintly marked with reddish-brown on the larger end.

The recent A.O.U. list (1931) gives the summer range of the Sitka kinglet (corthylio calendula crinnelli) as being north of us, and that of the western ruby-crowned (cineraceus) as California and northern Idaho. As the latter bird breeds rather commonly in parts of eastern Washington, its range may extend to the eastern boundary of our park. No specimen has as yet been taken. We should be on the lookout for a summer resident, a lighter bellied bird.

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AMERICAN PIPIT

Other common names: American Tit-lark.

Museum Specimens - Longmire (2700); Skyline Trail (6000); Burroughs Mountain (7000).

Pipits breed and summer with us on the high slopes, well above timber. They arrive in May and slowly follow the receding snowfields until they reach their breeding grounds, usually between 6000 and 7000 feet. Nesting begins about the last week in June, depending on the rapidity of the snow recession.

They are interesting birds to watch and study, their habits and movements being entirely different from those of our woodland birds. During courtship days the male will soar as does the skylark, singing, wafting downward with wings extended over the back, and alighting as daintily as a fallen leaf. They spend much time on the snowfields, feeding on the dead insects that to them seem plentiful.

I once located a pipits nest on the heather-covered slopes above Paradise Valley and near a snowfield. Quietly returning next day, I observed the male collecting insects on the snow until his bill was crammed full. He flew to the nest and fed the female. Later, while again watching him, I flushed the female who joined her mate and, with quivering wings, begged for what food he had in his bill. He fed her and left at once over the snow, she, returning to the nest. Another time I visited the nest and witnessed a fight between the two excited birds and a chipmunk. The latter was on its back to protect itself and received a good thrashing before it was able to get on its feet and disappear in the heather.

Pipits are brownish-gray on the back and buffy below with brownish stripes down the breast and flanks, but clear on the throat. The outer tail feathers show white in flight. They have the long hind claw of the wagtail group, and they really are a wagtail as the tail is continuously wagged or flicked up and down.

They nest on the ground, either in the heather or at the base of a "bunch-grass" plant if the hillside is open or bare. The nest of grasses is sunk level with the ground under some kind of covering, not in the open like that of the horned lark. Four to six eggs, almost chocolate in color and very darkly marked with brown, are laid.

In the fall the birds form in large flocks, spreading over much surface in feeding. When flushed they arise in all directions, appearing like dead leaves caught in a whirlwind. They linger until September, then start a curious migration down to sea-level and the mud flats where they remain for some time, gradually drifting southward. In spring they again ascend from flats to our mountain the slopes.

Pipits commonly summer above Paradise Valley, on Sourdough Range and on Burroughs Mountain. They are also seen at Grand Park, and a few birds were recorded at the Box Canyon Bridge on May 19, 1937 - spring arrivals, waiting for the snow to recede.

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CEDAR WAXWING

Other common names: Cedar Bird; Cherry Bird.

These pretty, quaint little birds have, in many ways, individuality of their own. They are gentle in disposition, never quarrelling with other birds nor among themselves. With the exception of the breeding months they fly in compact flocks, traveling as a unit, "one for all and all for one". If they descend to feed they all alight together and all in one tree. They are never boisterous or greedy but pick their food slowly and sedately, always displaying the best of manners. It is not uncommon to see several birds sitting erect, side by side, on a branch, and see one pick a cherry or berry and pass it along to the next fellow. He, in turn, sends it down the line and it may come back to the original picker before it is swallowed. Can you imagine any other bird doing that?

Waxwings are quiet in color, though beautifully dressed. Their feathers are smooth and silky, always neat and clean. The head and upper parts are a soft brown changing to grayish on the lower back. The tail is banded with a stripe of bright yellow. They wear a high crest and have a black bar extending across the face and a throat of the same color. The queerest part of their make-up consists of waxy, red quill-endings that terminate the secondaries of the wing and sometimes appear on the tail. Nature succeeded in making a handsome bird, separated distinctly in pattern and poise from all other birds, when she created the waxwing.

The nest is a loose, trashy affair built in a tree or high bush, the material being moss, twigs, grass or dead leaves, lined with rootlets. From four to six light-blue eggs with a distinctly smoky cast and spotted with black, are laid.

Waxwings are fruit eaters and have worked up quite a reputation as cherry pickers. They live mostly on wild fruit such as berries of the madrona and mountain ash and, in season, fruit from the wild bushes and vines. There is a certain time in the fall when they change to an insect diet. It is interesting to watch them as they launch out, one at a time, to secure a passing insect, then back to their perch. Several birds may be in the air at once, each after a different bug. They remind one of the feeding habits of the Lewis's or red-headed woodpecker.

The birds are not common in our park, but appear in the fall at various times and places. We have records at Paradise, Ohanapecosh, Owyhigh Lakes, Sunset Park and Yakima Park, over a number of years.

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Descriptions continued...