104 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



and hairs in the interior; these articles being substituted by fine 

 grasses and leaves. The period of incubation ranges from 13 to 

 14 days according to circumstances. 



Myiarchus crinitis, Cab. 



This species is very abundant in this latitude, arriving from the 

 South during the early part of May, and shortl}^ afterwards 

 l)airing. Both birds engage in nest building. The nest is con- 

 structed in a hollow tree, mostly a pear or an apple ; no doubt 

 the previous labor of some hard-working wood-pecker, possibly 

 Golaptes auratus. Mr. Samuels sa^'s, "the nests are composed of 

 straws, leaves, feathers, and the cast-off skins of snakes." He 

 further affirms, "it seems a distinguishing characteristic of the 

 nests of this species, to have the skins of one or more snakes 

 woven into the other materials." This has also been the expe- 

 rience of others. Mine has been quite different. I have yearly 

 collected many nests of this species, and find a great difference 

 in the materials. The following is the aggregate description : 

 Loose in arrangement, with scarcely the slightest evidence of 

 design. To an observer, it seems as if the materials had been 

 dropped into the cavity by the birds, and, when a sufficient quan- 

 tity had been accumulated, the whole had been shaken together 

 until the ingredients had been thoroughly commingled. Dried 

 grasses, liber of trees, rotten wood, and feathers are the chief 

 constituents; the slough of snakes being an nnuoticeable feature. 

 In lieu thereof, I have always found the feathers of the common 

 barnyard fowl to be a characteristic feature thereof. 



That this species does not always build in cavities is certain. 

 Two years ago, near Germantown, I found a nest built between 

 the forked branches of an apple tree. It was composed princi- 

 pally of the feathers of chickens, held in place by a woof of long 

 grasses. Though not very compact, yet it was sufficiently so to 

 last during the season. It is doubtful, however, whether it could 

 withstand the peltings of winter. The habit of building within 

 the hollows of trees is doubtless an acquired one, rendered neces- 

 sary by external circumstances. That species do occasionally^ 

 vary in the selection of a site for a nest, is instanced b}^ Tardus 

 migraforius, Lin., which, as is well known, ordinarily builds its 

 mud-plastered nest within the forked branches of a tree. In the 

 case to which the writer refers, the nest was found upon the hori- 



