THE PHCEBE. I43 



second brood in the other." Possibly the double nest in my 

 possession, which, by the way, was also rather late, had it 

 remained undisturbed, might have disclosed the same 

 purpose. In this, as in many other cases of bird archi- 

 tecture, it would seem that the bird had exercised some- 

 thing of reason, in addition to the ordinary impulses of 

 instinct. 



The other nest in my possession was found in the cellar 

 of an unoccupied house, and is composed almost entirely 

 of beautiful green mosses, without any perceptible use of 

 mud, and is also lined with white silken fibres and horse- 

 hair — a most beautiful object, especially as ornamented 

 with its complement of clear white eggs! Such nests are 

 sometimes built on cliffs of rock, according to the original 

 habits of the bird, and thus appear as if they ''grew" 

 there — a beautiful product of nature. This is a bird of 

 the United States, rare in Northern New England and so 

 belonging to the Alleghanian Fauna^ wintering in the 

 Southern States, and raising sometimes as many as three 

 broods in a season and in the same nest, which is ready for 

 the first occupation some time in April. 



It is well understood that this species returns to the same 

 place for nidification for years in succession. Audubon 

 believed that the young of the previous year returned, in 

 some cases, with the parents, and thus started a sort of 

 colony. 



Phoebe is 6.50 or upward in length, dark-olive above, 

 still darker on the crown; under parts white or tinged 

 with yellow; sides, and sometimes the breast, shaded with 

 the dark color of the upper parts. The ring around the 

 eye, the outer webbing of the wing and some of the tail- 

 feathers are tinged with greenish-white. Bill entirely 

 black. 



