368 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



the shade. One of these birds was observed to keep constantly on the 

 border of a small pond and to drive away a Kingbird from the place. He 

 adds that it has a peculiar short and lisping song of three notes, very differ- 

 ent from those of the other species. In the fall the young birds uttered a 

 very dilTerent call-note. 



Mr. Kidgway found this species breeding, Jnne 23, at Parley's Park, Utali. 

 One nest was built on the horizontal branch of a willow, over a stream, 

 about four feet from the ground. It \\as partly pensile. It was three 

 inches deep and four in diameter; the cavity was two inelies wide and one 

 and a half deep. Externally the nest was somewhat loosely constructed of 

 Haxeu tibres of plants, soft strips of inner bark and straw, and lined more 

 firmly with fine roots of plants. This structure was firmly bound around the 

 smaller branches of the limb. The inner nest was much more compactly in- 

 terwoven than the periphery. The eggs, four in number, were of a chalky 

 whiteness, more pinkish when unblown, finely sprinkled at the larger end 

 witli reddish-brown dots. Length, .77 of an inch; breadth, .51. 



Another nest from the same locality was built in the upriglit fork of a 

 wild rose, in the undergrowth of a willow thicket, and about four feet from 

 the ground. It is a much more comjiacl and homogeneous nest. Its ex- 

 ternal portion was almost wholly composed of the interweaving of the fine 

 inner bark of deciduous shrulis, blended with a few stems of grasses, feath- 

 ers, etc., and is lined with a few fine grass stems and fibrous roots. The 

 eggs, four in numlier, have a pinkish-white ground, and are spotted at the 

 larger end with reddish-brown and chestnut spots, in scattei'ed groups. 



In the summer of 1870 a son of Mr. Thure Kumlien, of Jefferson Co., 

 Wisconsin, found the nest and eggs of this species. Both parents were ob- 

 tained, and were fully identified by Professor Baird. The nest was placed in 

 a thick mass of coarse marsh grasses, near the ground, and firndy iuterwo\-en 

 with the tops of tlie surrounding herbage. The grass and reeds, among which 

 it was made, grew in the midst of water, and it was discovered by mere acci- 

 dent in a hunt for rail's ego;s. It was found, June 28, on the edge of Lake 

 Koskonong. It is a large nest for the liird ; its base and sides are made of 

 masses of soft lichens and mosses, and within this a neat and firm nest is 

 woven of bits of wool and fine wiry stems of grasses, and lined with 

 the same. The eggs measure .70 by .54 of an inch, are white with a pink- 

 ish tinge, and are marked with reddish-brown and fainter lilac blotciies at 

 the lariier end. 



