OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 289 



Another nest which we posses, has the exterior 

 composed of fine grasses with a slight intermingl- 

 ing of raw cotton. The interior is lined with 

 slender stems of Panicum^ and a few horse-hairs. 

 The most beautiful as well as the most neatly built 

 nest we have ever witnessed, was obtained by us 

 in Cumberland Co. X. }., in the summer of 1872. 

 It rests upon a horizontal twig and is supported 

 by two others which incline at an angle of 60 to 

 the former. It is composed externally of fine 

 branches of Panicum neatly and compactly inter- 

 woven, and lined with raw cotton, vegetable clown, 

 and the silk of Asclepias\ the entire outer surface 

 is covered with raw cotton which almost completely 

 conceals the grass-stems from view. This nest is 

 hemispherical in shape, and has a diameter at the 

 rim of five and a half inches, and a height of two 

 and a half. The cavity is circular with a diameter 



j 



of two and a half inches and a depth of two. 



The period of oviposition immediately follows 

 nest- completion and continues for five days, when 

 it is succeeded on the ensuing day by incubation 

 which lasts about 1 1 days. During the operation 

 the male occasionally relieves his partner. Whilst 

 she is occupied, he provides her with nourishment; 

 and when not employed in such matters, he stations 

 himself in close proximity, read}' to resist the 

 slightest invasion. The tedium of the time is 

 occasionally relieved by an agreeable ditty. 



Both parents are extremely devoted to their 



