706 MICHIC.AN lURI) LIFE. 



of ai-riviil us the fourth week in April (N. A. Wood). At Petersburg, 

 Monroe county, Mr. Trombley's earliest record was April 15, 1898, and 

 the average time of arrival about April 24. In Ingham county it is rarely 

 seen before the last two or three days of April and many times has not 

 been noticed before the 6th or 7th of May. The southward migration 

 doubtless begins in August and is completed in 8epteml;)er, few being seen 

 after the middle of that month. 



While with us it shows a decided preference for the higher parts of large 

 trees, and is especially partial to white oaks, in which the nest is most 

 often built; however, it frequently descends to the lower branches of 

 the trees and may sometimes be found in shrubbery, but rarely on the 

 ground. It is extremely restless and active, moving from branch to branch 

 with a quick jerky flight, keeping the wings half spread, the tail often 

 elevated and in motion, while it utters a variety of high-pitched, squeaky 

 and wheezy, notes which are highly characteristic, but not loud enough to 

 be heard at any great distance. IDuring the nesting season, and occasion- 

 ally at other times, the bird utters a very sweet warble which Coues de- 

 scribes as, "a sweet and tender song, so low as to be inaudible at any 

 considerable distance, yet so faultlessly executed and well sustained that 

 the tiny musician may claim no mean rank in the feathered choir." 

 Nehrling says "The song bears some resemblance to the Catbird's but 

 is of course much lower and softer, not perceptible at a distance." 



The nest is begun very soon after the birds arrive on the nesting grounds. 

 In one instance we found a pair building a nest near the Agricultural 

 College, Ingham county, on May 8 (1897), but this is unusually early, 

 although Dr. Gibbs took a set of four eggs in Kalamazoo county May 5, 

 1877. As a rule nests with eggs are most often found during the last week 

 in May and the first w^eek in June, and there seems to be no reason to 

 suppose that a second brood is reared. 



The nest is one of the most beautiful built by any bird, being composed 

 of various soft vegetable downs, largely from the milkweed and thistle 

 but bound together by spiders' webs and i)ossibly l)y the birds' saliva, 

 and the outside completely covered with bits of moss and lichens in the 

 manner of the Hummingbird. It is almost invariably built on a horizontal 

 branch and at a considerable height from the ground, often forty or fifty 

 feet, but is occasionally placed in the fork of a branch, or more rarely 

 still in an upright fork near the top of the tree itself. It has an external 

 diameter of about two inches and usually a height of more than three, 

 and is so deeply hollowed that the female is able to conceal herself almost 

 completely, only the tip of the tail being visible when she is sitting. 



The eggs are four to six, bluish or greenish-white, speckled with reddish 

 brown, and average .56 by .43 inches. 



The food of this species appears to be much like that of the kinglets, 

 consisting entirely of insects and their larva?, pupa and eggs. Were it 

 an abundant bird it would be invaluable to the fruit grower, but its small 

 numbers, and the fact that it is never numerous in the orchards, somewhat 

 detract from its economic value. Dr. Gibbs says: "This is one of those 

 species which have seasons of special abundance and again are very rare. 

 It was very abundant from 1876 to 1881 and again from 1889 to 1893 in 

 Kalamazoo count^^ but it is now (1904) scarce here, and two of us have 

 only recorded three specimens in the last two seasons." 



