136 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



of May, and is most frequently observed in low growths of 

 oak and chestnut: it seems always busily employed in 

 catching winged insects, of which its food almost entirely 

 consists ; these it seizes in the manner of the King-bird, 

 which bird it resembles hi both its habits and disposition. 

 I have sometimes seen two birds of this species engaged in 

 a fight, which, for fierceness, I have hardly seen surpassed. 

 They would rush together in mid-air, snapping their bills, 

 beating with their wings, and pecking each other, until they 

 both descended to the trees beneath, actually exhausted with 

 their exertions. 



Mr. Verrill says that it breeds quite common near the 

 Umbagog Lakes, Me. ; but I have never been able to find its 

 nest there or elsewhere, although I have looked for it with 

 great care. 



It has been found breeding in Vermont ; and Dr. Thomp- 

 son, in his work on the birds of that State, gives a descrip- 

 tion of the nest and eggs. Three nests have been found in 

 Massachusetts within two years ; two in West Roxbury, and 

 one in Dorchester. These were all built in forked twigs 

 of apple-trees, in old neglected orchards, facing to the 

 southward, and were constructed of the same material that 

 the King-bird uses in its nest. In fact, they were almost 

 exactly like the King-bird's nest, but were a little smaller. 



Two of the nests had three eggs each, and the other had 

 but two. They were all found in the first week in June, 

 and the eggs were freshly laid : probably, if they had been 

 unmolested, more eggs Avould have been deposited. Three 

 of these eggs are in my cabinet. To compare them with 

 the eggs of any other bird, I should say they seem like 

 exceedingly large Wood Pewee's : for they are almost exactly 

 like them in shape, color, and markings ; being of a creamy- 

 white, with large blotches and spatters of lilac, lavender, 

 and brownish-red. Their dimensions are .88 by .68 ; .88 

 by .66; .86 by .68 inch. 



Mr. Nuttall, who found a nest in Cambridge, Mass., 



