436 BULLETIN" 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



be seen sitting on a branch with their bodies touching in a most 

 affectionate attitude. Donald J. Nicholson writes to me: 



Early in the spring the mating is begun and it is a common sight to see 

 two or three males chasing a female on the ground. The female runs along 

 and the male closely follows, taking short flights to catch her, when she 

 arises and alights just ahead. When she has made her choice, they fly to 

 some elevated spot in a tree and the mating is consummated. I have never 

 seen them copulating on the ground. They utter a soft peculiar note when 

 chasing mates. They have a habit of flitting their wings, when running along. 



Nesting. — Erichsen (1920) writes: 



In its choice of nesting sites, it exhibits a very wide range. It most 

 frequently selects a low bush, either thinly or densely foliaged. Other sit- 

 uations in which I have found nests include the top of a low stump ; high 

 up on a horizontal limb of a large pine ; and, frequently, upon the ground. 

 An instance of its nesting on the ocean beach came under my observation 

 May 13, 1915, on Ossabaw Island. In this case there was no attempt at nest 

 building, the eggs being deposited in a slight depression in the sand ; and 

 when breeding on the ground in woodland or cultivated fields, little or no 

 material is assembled. In fact, nest building occupies little of the time and 

 attention of this species, as when placed in trees or bushes the nest is simply 

 a slight affair of a few twigs loosely interlaid. Further evidence of this 

 bird's disinclination to build a nest for the reception of its eggs is found in 

 the fact that I once found a set in a deserted nest of the cardinal (Cardinalis 

 cardinalis cardinalis) . 



So gentle and confiding are these birds that it is often possible to touch 

 them while on the nest, especially if incubation is advanced. Upon dropping 

 off the nest they always simulate lameness, dragging themselves over the 

 ground with drooping wings in an effort to draw the intruder away. I am 

 of the opinion that they remain mated for life, since they are observed through- 

 out the year most frequently in pairs. 



Mr. Nicholson, who has " examined hundreds of nests," says in his 

 notes : 



Nests are built on the ground as frequently as in vines, bushes, or trees, 

 or along the tops of fences. One foot to 10 or 12 feet above the ground is 

 the usual height. 



The nests are delicate-looking structures, made usually of fine rootlets or 

 grasses, and seldom any sticks are used, saddled on a limb, or among dead vines. 

 The diameter measures from 2% to 3 inches across, by 1 inch to 2 inches 

 thick, with scarcely any depression for the eggs, the eggs always showing above 

 the rim of the nest. 



A nest that I found on Murrays Key, Bay of Florida, on April 3, 

 1908, consisted of merely a few straws in a slight hollow in the 

 ground, under and between two tussocks of grass, which were arched 

 over it; it was located in an open space in the brush, with small 

 shrubs and weeds about it. Maynard (1896) "always found the 

 nests in orange groves; the neat domiciles are placed on the lower 

 limbs of trees." Audubon (1840) says that the nest "is large for 

 the size of the bird and compact. Its exterior is composed of dry 



