236 



BULLETIN UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA 



catbird's nest. In appearance this nest closely resembles that of the 

 willow thrush, though the different site in each case renders identifica- 

 tion quite easy. 



A type of nest radically different from any of the foregoing is pre- 

 sented by the American dipper, a bird which haunts the rapids of our 

 mountain brooks, and plays in the splashing waters as they foam among 

 the rocks or dash down the rock declevities. The nest of the dipper 

 is a hollow ball of green moss, oftenest situated where it is kept soft and 



Fig. i8. Nest and Eggs of Amer'can Redstart Seiop/mga ruttdlla L. 



moist by the spray of rapids or falls, on a shelf of rock, or among the 

 roots of trees washed by the brawling stream. On one side of this 

 mossy, dome-shaped habitation is a circular entrance, and within it is 

 an inner nest of leaves and grass. The site is nearly always among 

 mossy surroundings, and the nest is easily overlooked by anyone not 

 familiar with the nesting habits of the dipper. 



Among the warblers of this region, the American redstart is a nest- 

 builder of some note. It chooses dark gray-colored material (Fig. 18), 

 such as fine strips of inner bark-fibers of weed-stems, bits of dark green 

 lichen, flakes of gossamer, and fibrous grasses. These it shapes into a 

 neat, well-rounded cup, fitted into some crotch formed by a small twig 

 and a larger branch, generally upright, from six to twenty feet from the 

 ground. In size the nest is probably the smallest among the warblers, 

 and is difficult to detect in the gloomy light of the swamp-woods, as it 

 resembles an enlargement at a joint of the branch. 



The ground-dwelling warblers of this region manifest a great simi- 

 larity of taste in their style of architecture. In this group are the west- 

 ern yellow-throat and Macgillivray's warbler, Ijoth of which make their 



