OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 247 



male is so completely absorbed as to be oblivious 

 to all around him. He has a peculiar habit of 

 erecting his crest and expanding his throat. On 

 the intrusion of a feathered stranger he ceases his 

 song, and in a fit of anger, gives chase to the pre- 

 sumptuous intruder. 



The nest of this species is placed in fir spruces, 

 or cedars, ordinarily, but, sometimes high up in an 

 apple-tree, at an elevation in the generality of 

 cases, of about five feet from the ground. It is 

 built upon a branch, and measures two and a half 

 inches in height and three and a half inches in 

 breadth, and has walls less than an inch in thickness. 

 It is shallow and consists of a framework of 

 vegetable fibres, grass-stems, strips of bark, and 

 woody fragments. The rim is constructed of her- 

 baceous stems, with their ends projecting into a 

 sort of low palisade. The inner-structure is com- 

 posed of minute fibres closely wov< j n together. 

 Sometimes the nest is lined with down and 

 feathers of birds, and fur of small animals. 



The eggs areoblong-oval, considerably acumi- 

 nate at one end, and vary in size and configuration. 

 They are a pale emerald-green, and spotted with 

 a dark brown which is almost black in some species 

 at the larger end. The ground color is brighter 



o o o 



when fresh, but assumes a lighter shade on ex- 



o 



posure to light. The average measurement is .S6 

 by .68 of an inch. 



Curvirostra leu'coptera, Brehm. 

 The White-winged Crossbill is undoubtedly 



