184 The Ottawa Naturalist. [January 



they were abundant, but there appeared to be no sign of nesting 

 as yet. On June 5th, Mr. Harry Gould went with me for a day 

 with these elusive creatures, and it was well that he did, for in 

 the morning's hunt, which we sp3nt apirt from 5 a.m. till ten, he 

 found one nest building, and I none, but in the afternoon, work- 

 ing together, we found five, one of which was building, one with 

 one egg, and the other three with sets of four in each. After 

 failing in the morning we were much disheartened, but during 

 our lunch time, a female was seen working around in the tree-tops 

 beside us, and, watching her while we ate, we were first cheered 

 and then made suspicious, and, as suspicion deepened, we 

 separated, and by dint of the most intent watching, with constant 

 remark from the other person when she was out of the sight of 

 one of us, we at length found the nest with one egg. After that, 

 the operation was more simple, as a single example will show. 

 Hearing a male singing, we approached, and at length spied him 

 preening his feathers and singing between whiles. As this occu- 

 pation might last for some time, one of us wandered on while the 

 other waited and watched. After perhaps ten minutes, he ceased 

 preening and began to feed. The other hunter was then called in, 

 and establishing himself in a favorable position, both kept our 

 eyes on him, so that when he became invisible to one, the other 

 would inform him of his movements. Soon he made a quick short 

 flight after another bird, and as soon as they alighted we saw it 

 was his mate. Then, with every sense on the alert we left him 

 entirely, and watched her alone, and after feeding for about five 

 minutes she left the feeding tree, flew past me, and right out 

 through an open glade to the nest, 60 yards away in plain sight 

 on the limb of a basswood tree, 50 feet up and 6 feet out from the 



trunk. 



This nest, which is a typical one, is supported almost 



entirely by its contact with the main limb, which is one inch in 

 diameter. It is built of grasses and bark-strips covered exter- 

 nally with silvery gray bark-strips, in the same manner as the 

 Redstarts, and lined with black horsehairs on the bottom and on 



one side, the other side being less heavily built and lacking the 

 lining. It measures on the outside 2 inches high and 3 inches 

 wide, and on che inside i5-i6ths of an inch deep by ij/g inches wide. 



