220 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



leaves and rootlets, as against grasses and rootlets in those of the 

 latter [hermit], which are also placed in drier situations." 



The following records indicate the variation in the sites, composi- 

 tion, and surroundings of veery's nests: A. C. Bent (MS.) reports 

 from Squam Lake, N. H., "three nests, all on or near the ground in 

 heavy mixed woods. One was on a hummock, partially concealed by 

 low plants, one in a low mountain-laurel bush about a foot up in plain 

 sight between small maple saplings, and one a few inches above ground 

 in a shady but open space in the woods well concealed between two 

 very small laurels." F. W. Braund (MS.) sends Mr. Bent the follow- 

 ing notes on veeries' nests: One, in Ontario, Canada, "in the fork of 

 fallen limbs 2^ feet from the ground in thick undergrowth of dense 

 woodland, made mostly of dead, moist leaves and lined with a few 

 leaf skeletons"; another "on the ground in bushy, burnt-over wood- 

 land"; and a third at Andover, Ohio, "on the ground in second growth 

 woodland of moist marshland, at the base of a small shrub near the 

 water's edge, made of leaves, rootlets and grape vine bark." A. Dawes 

 DuBois (MS.) sends these notes on the situations of veeries' nests 

 found in New York State: "One foot above ground, supported by a 

 large grape vine, at base of tree, well hidden in clump of weeds, beside 

 a foot path; on the ground, in rather exposed situation by a small 

 clump of blooming bluegrass, in a little opening in small woods, chiefly 

 saplings; on ground, in weeds, in strip of low woods near a road; 

 about 18 inches from the ground, in a small clump of briers, on steep 

 bank of river, of usual materials, with some dried shreds of cattails 

 in its exterior; by a stump at top of slope, in very exposed situation 

 at side of lake-shore road, whole brown leaves placed in front in such 

 a way that it became quite safe from observation of passers-by; on 

 the ground, in woods, near a summer cottage." 



Ora Willis Knight (1908), writing of his observations in Maine, 

 states: "The nests are never situated on the ground as far as my 

 experience goes, though one which I have found in the thick branches 

 of a shrubby hemlock bush was nearly resting on the moss of a hummock 

 in the thick woods. * * * The nests are often placed on top of 

 the stub of a small tree around which the sprouts have started at 

 heights of not over six feet from the ground. Other nests are placed 

 in small evergreen bushes, in low alders and on dead stumps, in general 

 two or three feet from the ground." 



William Brewster (1906) shows that veeries sometimes depart 

 radically from their usual breeding habits. He says, speaking of 

 birds in eastern Massachusetts: "I have known veeries to breed in 

 perfectly dry oak and pine woods, on the sides and summits of hills, 

 in Lincoln and Concord, and in an orchard on the crest of a ridge in 

 Cambridge, not far from the Pine Swamp. Mr. H. A. Purdie and I 



