504 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 part i 



placed close to the trunk and concealed by a cluster of thick twigs 

 which often sprout at the point where the branch starts. I recall 

 several nests which we found in dead spruce trees. In such cases 

 the nests were always remarkably well concealed among the beard 

 (Usnea) moss which hung from the branches in profusion. Nests 

 were almost invariably discovered by watching the male carry food 

 to the sitting bird. He was accustomed to feed nearby and was con- 

 spicuous by his loud and incessant chirping and singing. On one 

 occasion I sat close by the sitting female and waited for him to come 

 to her, so that I might see the manner of his feeding. He soon 

 appeared and, taking no notice of me, was seen to place his bill inside 

 her open mouth. 1 well recall the regurgitory movements of his 

 throat and I could see what looked like thick cream being swallowed 

 by the female. This was, of course, nothing else than the seeds of 

 the conifers. 



"The nests were bulky, being composed of twigs and plenty of 

 decayed wood and beard moss (Usnea). The lining was sometimes of 

 feathers, but I recall that more often it was made up entirely from the 

 silky fibres which the birds extracted from the seed-pods of the fire- 

 weed [E^pilohium angustifolium) which often was to be foimd near the 

 nesting colonies." 



In Ontario, Mrs. Lawrence (1949) found four nests at Pimisi Bay, 

 which she describes as follows: 



* * * Nest A was located in a lone white pine which stood on the crest of a 

 high point overlooking Pimisi Bay. * * * It was saddled on a horizontal 

 branch 8 feet out from the trunk and 6^ feet from the end. The distance from 

 the ground was 23 feet. The nest was made of pine twigs and some spruce twigs 

 on the outside, next dead grasses, green moss and strips of inner bark of white 

 cedar. Inside it was lined with hairs and feathers." This nest was found on 

 April 3, and was abandoned later. 



Nest B was discovered on April 6 about 1000 feet north of Nest A. It was built 

 in a red pine about 35 feet from the ground. * * * This three (sic) stood on the 

 periphery of a clump of tall trees on a slope about 30 feet from the lake. This nest 

 was also saddled on a horizontal branch, about 3 feet out from the trunk and 1J4 

 feet from the tip of the branch. * * * 



Nest C was discovered on the same date. This nest was located between Nest 

 A and B at a distance of 300 feet from Nest B. It was built deeply seated in the 

 fork of one of the middle branches of a white spruce, very well concealed in a clump 

 of small bushy branchlets. It was at a height of 28 feet from the ground, 4 feet 5 

 inches from the trunk and 3 feet 9 inches from the tip of the branch. * * * 



Nest D was discovered on April 9 when the calling of the birds, presumed to 

 belong to Nest B, was heard continuously during a watch at Nest C, Going to 

 investigate, I found this nest in a white spruce which stood 75 feet south of Nest B. 

 It was placed 4 feet out from the trunk and 3}^ feet from the tip of the branch, at 

 height of 32 feet from the ground. This nest was beautifully made with an outer 

 structure of dry spruce twigs, a pattern found in all the nests collected. Next 

 came strips of the inner bark of cedar intermingled with green moss and Usnea. 



