39 2 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



crest " and our li. satrapa were the same, took a description of the 

 nest and eggs of that bird and applied it to our " golden crown," but 

 the birds are not identical. 



If Mr. Minot is correct, as he undoubtedly is, it is probable that I 

 have the pleasure of possessing the first and possibly the only nest and 

 eggs of this bird ever found. In 1876, the year following Mr. Minot's 

 discovery, I obtained a nest which contained ten eggs. It was found 

 near Bangor, Maine, and was placed about six feet from the ground in 

 a mass of the thick growth so common in many of our fir-trees. The 

 nest was composed of a large ball of soft moss, forming a mass about 

 four and a half inches in diameter. The opening was at the top, and 

 was about one and three fourths inch across and two inches deep ; this 

 opening was lined with hair and feathers, principally the latter. 



To the eye the eggs appear of .a creamy- white color, covered with 

 such very obscure spots that they merely give a dingy or dirty tint to 

 the egg ; but Dr. Brewer, who examined them by the aid of a powerful 

 magnifier, states in the " Ornithological Bulletin " for April, 1879, in 

 which he gives an account of these eggs, that " the ground-color is 

 white, with shell-marks of purplish slate, and a few obscure superficial 

 markings of a deep buff, giving to the ground the effect of cream- 

 color." These eggs are extremely minute, the largest being only T 5 T 2 o 

 of an inch long and T Vo of an inch in breadth, while the smallest 

 is y 4JL. of an inch long and ^ of an inch in breadth, or about the 

 length of the egg of the ruby-throated humming-bird. These ten 

 tiny eggs in their mossy casket can hardly be excelled for simple 

 beauty. 



There are many persons who do not feel particularly interested in 

 natural history in general, but who are nevertheless charmed by our 

 beautiful birds and their sweet songs, and, being touched through the 

 medium of their senses, they come by degrees to learn more and more 

 of their habits, till the charm so grows upon them that without our 

 feathered friends life would lose one of its greatest pleasures. Yet, 

 perhaps, no living creatures are so much abused, being a convenient 

 target for every boy who is large enough to carry a gun or throw a 

 stone. In some localities there is a constant robbery of their nests, 

 carried on to an alarming extent, which the law is practically power- 

 less to prevent. Take a single example of failure to enforce the law 

 in another direction : I am informed that over seven thousand ducks 

 were netted contrary to law in Franklin, Maine, last year, by pot-hunt- 

 ers, and all over our State this business is carried on with impunity, 

 and probably will continue to be till public sentiment is aroused to a 

 proper realization of the fact that our waters are gradually being 

 stripped of their water-fowl, and when it is, perhaps, too late, the 

 wrong which has been permitted may be appreciated but too well. 



