BIRDS OF KANSAS. ■ 557 



yoimg female, at the same season, is similar in pattern to the adult, but is dull 

 greeu above, without any llnse of blue, and light buffy yellow below. 



"There is considerable variation in adult males, especially in the width of 

 the pectoral collar; one (No. 60877, Mt. Carmel, Wabash county, 111., Aug. 9th) 

 has this entirely interrupted. In this individual there is no trace of a vihitish 

 supra-auricular streak; while others from the same locality, and obtained at the 

 same date, have the bands across the jugulum continuous, and a quite distinct 

 white streak over the ear coverts." 



Dimensions of a pair in "The Goss Ornithological Collec- 

 tion:" 



stretch of 

 Length. 2uing. Whig. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 4.90 8.00 2.G5 1.80 .65 .40 



Female... 4.75 7.85 2.60 1.70 .65 .40 



Iris brownish black; bill black, with under pale at base; legs 

 and feet deep blue; claws brown. 



These prettj azure birds inhabit the deep woods, preferring 

 the timbered bottom lands along the streams, where thej make 

 their homes in the treetops, seldom descending to the lower 

 branches, and to the ground only when in search of material for 

 a nest. Tlicj are lively and graceful in their movements, flit- 

 ting here and there through the foliage, and often, in their 

 search for insect life, swaying head downward from the ends of 

 slender twigs with the ease of a Titmouse. They are the most 

 abundant in the eastern portion of the Mississippi valley. Liv- 

 ing as they do in the upper branches, and largely in the wild 

 woods, their breeding range is but little known, and they are no 

 doubt much more common everywhere than they are generally 

 reported to be. I think it safe to say that they breed from the 

 Gulf coast northward throughout their range. During the 

 breeding season the birds are quite constant singers — a rather 

 feeble effort, but clear, soft and musical, ending in a creaking 

 manner. 



Their nests are saddled on horizontal limbs, from fifteen to 

 sixty feet from the ground — rarely below thirty feet, especially 

 in heavily-timbered lands. They are composed of fine grasses, 

 moss, and bits of hornets' nests, interwoven with spider webs and 

 soft strippings from plants, the outside sparingly dotted with 

 lichen. Eggs usually three or four; creamy to greenish white, . 

 speckled with reddish brown and lilac, tliickest, and sometimes 



