146 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



nest resting firmly on several bean poles at a point 4 feet above the 

 ground. A pair observed by John May was'nesting in what appeared 

 to be a typical robin's nest 2 feet up in a young hemlock. This nest 

 had a foundation of coarse grasses and weeds, a middle layer of mud, 

 and a lining of fine grasses. I found a hermit's nest on a barren 

 shelf of rock of a perpendicular ledge adjoining a deserted feldspar 

 quarry in Topsham, Maine. The shelf on which the nest was built 

 was 15 inches wide and 3 feet long and^about 7 feet above the ground. 

 The nesting site though in an exposed situation was well shaded during 

 most hours of the day by the dense foliage of several large hemlock 

 trees. The nest was made of the usual nesting materials, but the 

 twigs and leaves of the foundation were spread over an area of 12 to 

 15 inches. The nesting bowl of the deep cupped nest was well formed 

 and firmly constructed. 



Though we associate the hermits with lonely situations remote from 

 the habitations of man, they have been known to nest about buildings. 

 Miss Annie L. Warner, of Salem, Mass., wrote to Mr. Forbush (1929) 

 that she found a hermit's nest with two well-grown fledglings about 

 7 feet from the ground, on a shelf under the eaves of a piazza of an 

 occupied camp on Lake Winnipesaukee. Another hermit was reported 

 nesting in a tin gutter under the eaves of the second story of a home 

 at Holderness, N. H. (E. DeMeritte, 1920). Verna R. Johnston (1943) 

 found a hermit thrush nesting on a rafter under a roof of a building at 

 the University of Colorado Biological Station, at Boulder, Colo. 

 The station is located at an elevation of 9,500 feet. 



Eggs. — The eggs of the hermit thrush are ovate or elongate-ovate 

 and a plain greenish blue in color. They are similar in appearance 

 to the eggs of the Wilson's thrush but are of a much more delicate 

 and lighter shade of blue. Occasionally the eggs are spotted. In 

 correspondence received from Francis H. Allen he writes that one egg 

 of a set of three found at Bridgewater, N. H., on August 1, 1883, has 

 thinly scattered small brown spots. Another found near the same 

 place on August 9 of the same year contained three eggs, one of which 

 was spotted. Harry G. Parker (1887) writes that in two eggs in a 

 set of tliree there were minute spots of black. An application of an 

 acid wash failed to remove the spots. Others have reported similar 

 markings on the eggs of the hermit thrush, but spotted eggs are by no 

 means of common occurrence. 



The number of eggs per complete set varies from three to six, but 

 the vast majority of nests contain three or four eggs. 



The measurements and weights in millimeters and grams of two 

 typical sets of eggs are as follows: 



