// except that when sortedDelegate's comparator is null, it points to a
  // non-null instance of Ordering.natural().
  // (cpovirk: Is sortedDelegate's comparator really ever null?)
  // The comparator will likely also differ because of our nullAccepting hack.
  // See the bottom of the file for more information about it.
  private final transient Comparator<? super K> comparator;