158 Ihccdiiig of the Whiic-caj^l^cd Ta)wgcr. 



cristaiiis): with these they h\e(l in amity. The Inish and plant- 

 life was of such luxurious growth that it was sometimes difticult 

 to see the birds as they disported amid the thick foliage, but 

 from mid-A])ril the cock sang from morn till nightfall. I had 

 niany opportunities of listening to his melody and cannot agree 

 with Hudson, who describes it as follows : 



" During' inculcation tlic male sits concealed in the thick foliaj^'c, 

 " amusing itself by the hour with singing . its performance consisting of 

 " chattering and disconnected notes uttered in so low a tone as to make 

 " one fancy that the bird is trying to recall some melody it has forgotten 

 " or is trying to construct a new one by jerking out a variety of sounds 

 " at random. The bird neyer gets beyond this stage ....'" 



As a matter of fact the song of the White-cap does not 

 *eem to me inferior to that of the robin or Blue (Grosbeak. 

 He has not the fulsome, flute-like melody of the Nightingale 

 c r Shama. but his song- is quite sweet and agreeable, and during 

 the breeding season it is frequently repeated. He is certainly 

 the best songster I know of among the Tanagridac. 



At the end of Ai)ril the hen commenced to build a nest 

 a* the top of an elder bush, very near the top of the flight, amid 

 very thick foliage, by which it was completely concealed. 

 I hapl^cncd to discover it one morning": it was very big and 

 solid, entirely constructed of hay, lined on the inside with 

 fine dry grasses. 



Unfortunately a spell of bad weather intervened, and 

 the birds seemed to have forgotten their nest and desire to 

 rear young. 



On May 22nd the hen laid her first egg. and on the 24th 

 another, and at once incubation conuuenced. 



The ?ggs were about the same size as the blackbird's; 

 they were rather long and of about equal thickness at both 

 ends, white, spotted with brownish red. 



The hen alone incubated. During this period the cock 

 never went far from the nest, and sang almost incessantly the 

 li\e-long day. 



On June 6th two young birds hatched out. T could not 

 see them in the nest ; to do so it would have been necessary to 

 take them out, which would probably have caused them to desert 



