YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER 177 



woven but, from its thickness, somewliat dense fabric of flue materials, con- 

 sisting mainly of the bleached stems of some slender sedge and the black 

 and shining rootlets of, apparently, ferns, closely resembling horsehair. Be- 

 tween the two sections of the structure, and appearing only when they were 

 separated, was a scant layer of the glossy orange pedicels of a moss (Poly- 

 Irichnm) not a fragment of which was elsewhere visible. The walls of the 

 internal nest were about one-half an inch in thickness, and had doubtless 

 been accomplished with a view of protection from dampness. 



Prof. Daniel C. Eaton, of New Haven, very kindly assumed the task of 

 determining the difl'erent species of moss which entered into the composition 

 of the nest and of the moss bed in which it rested, and his investigation 

 disclosed the fact that the mosses which abounded immediately about the nest 

 had not been utilized as building material. * * * In addition there were 

 found among the materials of construction catlcin scales of the birch, leaves 

 of the balsam, and fragments of the dried pinnae of ferns; but, as suggested 

 by Professor Eaton, the presence of some of these was probably accidental. 

 Springing from the verdant moss beds immediately about the nest were scat- 

 tered plants of Oxalis acetosella, TrientaUs americana, Solidago thyrsoidea, 

 and Clintonia borealis. 



William L. Bailey (1916) reports the finding of three nests of the 

 yellow-bellied flycatcher on Pocono Mountain, Pa., by himself and 

 by some of his friends. He says: 



The nesting sites were all in little open sunny spots of wet sphagnum in 

 the dense secluded forest of spruce, hemlock, balsam and tamarack ; and 

 all through the moss grew the wintergreen, bunch berry and occasionally the 

 fragrant white swamp azalea. The nests were hidden in the sides of little 

 mounds of sphagnum ; only a little black flat hole was visible, which did not 

 even look suspicious. The nest which had young was composed first of small 

 spruce twigs, and then lined thickly with pine needles only, and set right in 

 the sphagnum deeply cupped. As I bad not flushed the bird, I poked my 

 finger into it for investigation before I knew it to be a nest. Mr. Stuart's 

 nest, which contained eggs, was simply lined with pine needles. 



A nest found by Dr. Dickey in New Brunswick was a rather loose 

 affair, "a weave of pretty sprays of sphagnum, the Knight's crest moss 

 (Hypnum dendroides), some dark rootlets, a few culms of Juncus, 

 and sedge (Carex disperina), and was nicely. lined with the brown 

 needles of the red pine {Pinus resinosa)^ 



Eggs. — V^. J. Brown tells me that the usual number of eggs is 

 three or four; in over 200 nests he has found only 25 sets of five. 

 The eggs vary from ovate to short-ovate and are practically luster- 

 less. The ground color is pure, dull white. There are sometimes a 

 few small blotches, but more often fine dots sparingly scattered 

 over the egg, or more or less grouped about the larger end, rarely 

 concentrated into a wreath. These markings are in various shades 

 of brown, "cinnamon-rufous," "walnut brown," "pinkish cinnamon," 

 or "cinnamon-buff " ; Bendire (1895) says: "Occasionally a specimen 

 shows a speck or two of heliotrope purple." The measurements of 

 50 eggs average 17.4 by 13.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four 



