72 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



and (generally) markings on the wing, whitish. Habits very 

 clifTereut. 



{b). "Five eggs, not quite fresh, which I took from a nest 

 in the "White Mountains on the 23rd of July (probably those 

 of a second set), were pure crystal-white, thinly and minutely 

 speckled with bright reddish-brown, and averaging about '70 X 

 •55 of an inch. The nest, thickl}' lined with feathers of the 

 Ruffed Grouse, was in a low moss-covered stump, about a foot 

 high, in a dark swampy forest, filled with tangled piles of fallen 

 trees and branches. The entrance to the nest, on one side, was 

 very narrow, its diameter being less than an inch, and was 

 covered with an overhanging bit of moss, which the bird was 

 obliged to push up on going in." (H. D. Minot.) Dr. Brewer 

 describes other eggs as measuring 'GoX'iS of an inch, and 

 "spotted with a bright reddish-brown and a few pale markings 

 of purplish-slate, on a pure white ground." The nest contain- 

 ing these eggs, which were six in number, " was built in an 

 occupied log-hut, among the fir-leaves and mosses in a crev- 

 ice between the logs." It was found by Mr. William F. Hall 

 "at Camp Sebois, in the central eastern portion of Maine." 



(c). The Winter Wrens are not very common in this State, 

 and are generally seen here only in April and October, when 

 migrating. They spend their summers in the most northern 

 parts of New England and the cold countries bej^ond, and 

 their winters to the southward of Massachusetts. ^^ They are 

 so little social as to generally travel singly, and to avoid the 

 neighborhood of man, usually frequenting, when journeying, 

 woods, or roadsides bordered by them, though I have also seen 

 them in woodpiles near houses or barns. In such places they 

 busy themselves about the piles of brush and logs ; when 

 frightened often taking refuge in stone walls, if any be near, 

 where, on account of their small size and great activity, they 

 are as much at home as squirrels. When they have once taken 

 to such a retreat, it is impossible to keep sight of them for 

 any great length of time. Wilson says that in winter they are 



" I liave lieard of but few instances of their being seen in this State in winter. 



