Nest and Egga of Swainson's Warbler. 9 



They would fly up from the ground and, hovering like a 

 Hawk or Kingfisher, fix the leaves in place with their bills. 

 The female laid her first egg June 26, and one on each of the 

 following two days. I took the nest on the fifth day, when 

 dissection of the female showed that the set was complete.^^ 



The nest taken June 27 contained two eggs, chipped and 

 on the point of hatching. Unfortunately both were broken 

 in blowing ; but Mr. Wayne describes them as ^' dead white, 

 without spots. '^ He sends me the shells of one, which are 

 quite immaculate. 



The set of three eggs just mentioned is also before me. 

 The specimens are in perfect condition, and measure re- 

 spectively "TSx-oS, "77 X "58, and •74x*58. They are all 

 oval, with the smaller end decidedly blunt and rounded, and 

 in genera] shape closely resemble the smaller egg of the set 

 described in ' Forest and Stream,^ vol. xxiv. no. 24, p. 468. 

 Their ground-colour is also similar — dull white, with a faint 

 but appreciable bluish tinge. One is perfectly plain ; another, 

 like the larger egg of the first set, has two or three minute 

 specks, which may be genuine shell-markings; while the 

 third is unmistakably spotted and blotched with pale lilac. 

 Over most of the surface these markings are fine, faint, and 

 sparsely distributed ; but about the larger end they become 

 coarsei', thicker, and deeper-coloured, forming a well-defined 

 ring or wreath. All three eggs have a slight polish, and the 

 shells look hard and thick for those of a Warbler''s ee-ffs. 



The nests are similar in general position and construction 

 to the specimen described by me in ' Forest and Stream,' but 

 both differ in certain important details. The one containing 

 the set of three eggs is composed almost entirely of bleached 

 straw-coloured cane-leaves, with an interior lining of pine- 

 needles and a few thread-like strands of black moss, appa- 

 rently Tillandsia. This nest is much the smallest of the 

 four, measuring externally 3-50 in diameter by 3*00 m depth, 

 internally I'SO in diameter by 1-50 in depth, the greatest 

 thickness of the rim or outer wall being I'OO. Unlike the 

 specimen first described, it is firmly supported on all sides by 

 the fascicled branches among which it rests. Its shape is 



