292 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



over 30 feet in height, and more or less scattered, with an undergrowth 

 of scrubby oaks and other underbrush. The nests were usually not far 

 from the shores of small ponds, and almost invariably on the lowest 

 limb of the tree, often on a branch overhanging a woodland path. 

 The heights from the ground varied from 7 to 20 feet, and they were 

 placed from 3 to 5 feet out from the main trunk, usually not far 

 from the end of the limb. If it had not been for the noisy activities 

 of the birds in advertising the fact that we were near their nests, 

 we should have had great difficulty in finding them, for they were 

 very well concealed. They were all on horizontal branches, usually 

 in a cluster of upright twigs, raised an inch or two above the branch 

 and well hidden among the pine needles; it was sometimes necessary 

 to climb a tree and examine a suspicious-looking bunch before we 

 could recognize it as a nest. The nests were mainly made of Usnea 

 harbafa, the familiar hanging moss or lichen of that region, on a foun- 

 dation of dead twigs, mixed with straws, rootlets, and dead pine 

 needles; there was usually a smooth lining of the usnea, but some- 

 times a few fine rootlets, grasses, or pine needles appeared in the 

 lining. The birds were very noisy and aggressive in the defense 

 of their nests, often snapping their bills and dashing at the intruder, 

 but oftener only indulging in loud vocal protests. We found that 

 after a nest had been robbed a new nest was built and a second 

 set of eggs laid within about three weeks or less. The three beau- 

 tiful eggs, lying in a shallow cup of pale green usnea and surrounded 

 by a framework of dark green pine needles make a most attractive 

 picture. 



The only other nest that I have seen was found near Bay of Islands, 

 Newfoundland, on July 1, 1912. It was 12 feet from the ground 

 on a drooping limb of a small balsam fir in a scattered open growth 

 of coniferous trees ; it was 4 feet out from the trunk, contained 3 fresh 

 eggs, and was similar in construction to the Plymouth nests. Mr. 

 Brewster (1937) mentions several nests found near Lake Umbagog 

 in Maine that were 25 to 50 feet above ground in red spruces. Dr. 

 Dickey (MS.) says that in West Virginia and Maryland these fly- 

 catchers nest in the red spruces {Picea rubens) and the intermediate 

 fir {Ahiss intermedia) and that in Pennsylvania they are partial to the 

 hemlock trees (Tsuga canadensis). In Canada, he says, they are 

 notably partial to the spruce timber, the white spruce {Picea cana- 

 densis), and the black spruce {Picea niariana). 



"The nest itself, which is completed in mid-June and even up into 

 July, is a rather loose weave of dead spruce or other evergreen twigs, 

 masses of cones, mats of the gray-green Usnea harbata, or old-man's- 

 beard lichens, rootlets, and pads of moss, such as knight's-crest 

 {Hypmim) and hair moss {Polytrichum). It is shallow inside and 



