THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 39 



fruit or shade trees ; it is a bulky contrivance, made of 

 roots, twigs, grass, moss and sometimes mud. The eggs 

 are from three to five in number, nine-tenths by three- 

 fifths of an inch in size, of a dingy blue white, thick at 

 one end and tapering suddenly. 



The birds breed throughout temperate North America, 

 spreading south, wintering from the northern United 

 States to Central America ; in New Jersey they are scarce 

 in winter and occur in great flocks early in summer. 



Their call is referred to by Thoreau as a "beady note," 

 tivee-tivee-zee. 



Government analyses of 125 stomachs show that only 

 seventeen per cent, of the total food consists of insects, 

 the rest being made up of the pulp, skin and seeds of 

 fruits and sometimes seeds and other parts of flowers ; 

 they consume the most insects when fruit is most abun- 

 dant and feed their young to a great extent on insects ; in 

 winter they subsist to a large extent on cedar berries. 



Chat^ Wllow-hreaHtetl. — Length, seven and a half 

 inches; extent, ten inches; bill, two-fifths of an inch; the 

 back, tail and upper wings are of a rich olive green with 

 a brownish glaze; breast, bright yellow; lower belly, white; 

 sides, bright yellow; under wing, bright yellow; legs and 

 feet, light lead. 



The nest is built about the middle of May in a crotch of 

 a bush near the ground; it is a bulky contrivance of coarse 

 grasses, roots and bark compactly interwoven and lined 

 with fine grasses and plant fibre. The eggs are from three 

 to five in number, white in color with brown spots and 

 nine-tenths by three-fifths of an inch in size. 



The birds breed in the eastern part of the United 

 States, comparatively few being found in the northern 

 part of New Jersey. They are here from May to Sep- 

 tember and spend the winter in Mexico and further south. 



Their alarm note is a chut, chut, chut, and their song 

 a mixture of caws and whistles, varied and frequently 



