134 Brewster on Large-Billed Water-Thrush. 



wise evincing no particular anxiety or concern. The nest, which is hefore 

 nie, is exceedingly large and bulky, measuring externally 3.50 inches in 

 diameter, by 8 inches in length, and 3.50 inches in depth. Its outer wall, 

 a solid mass of soggy dead leaves plastered tightly together by the mud 

 adhering to their surfaces, rises in the form of a rounded parapet, the outer 

 edge of which was nicely graduated to conform to the edge of the earthy 

 bank in which it was placed. In one corner of this mass, and well back, 

 is the nest proper, a neatly rounded, cup-shaped hollow, measuring 2.50 

 inches in diameter by 2.50 inches in depth. This inner nest is composed 

 of small twigs and green mosses, with a lining of dry grasses and a few 

 hairs of squirrels or other mammals arranged circularly. The eggs found 

 in this nest are of a rounded-oval shape and possess a high polish. Their 

 ground-color is white with a fleshy tint. About the greater ends are 

 numerous large but exceedingly regular blotches of dark umber with 

 fainter sub-markings of pale lavender, while over the remainder of their 

 surface are thickly sprinkled dottings of reddish-brown. But slight vari- 

 ation of marking occurs, and that mainly with regard to the relative size 

 of the blotches upon the greater ends. They measure, respectively, .75 X 

 .63, .78X.64, .75X.63, .76X-62, .76X.62, .75x61.' 



The second nest was taken May 8, on the opposite side of the same pond, 

 in a precisely similar situation. Attention was first called to its proximity 

 by the presence of the old birds, which were sitting on a mossy log a few 

 yards off, the male pouring forth an almost uninterrupted strain of gushing 

 melody to his mate. Enlightened by previous experience, the writer went 

 directly to the only fallen tree in the vicinity, and almost at the first glance 

 among the earth-laden roots looked in upon the eggs. This nest was very 

 prettily sheltered from the rains, and concealed from prying eyes above, by 

 a large white fungus, about the size and very nearly the shape of a shingle, 

 which projected directly over it from the wall of earth behind, barely 

 leaving sufficient space beneath to admit the passage of the bird. In gen- 

 eral character this nest is nearly identical in every respect with the one 

 already described. It has the same rounded outer wall of closely impacted 

 dead leaves, with, however, an admixture of dry mosses, cypress twigs, and 

 strips of bark. In shape it is nearly square, measuring externally 6.50 

 inches in diameter by 3.54 inches in depth. The inner nest measures 

 2.73 inches in diameter by 2.50 inches in depth, and is lined with dry 

 grasses, leaf-stems, and a few white hairs. The eggs were four in number and 

 perfectly fresh ; probably more would have been laid had the nest been 

 left undisturbed. They agree closely in shape with those of the first set, 

 and have an equally high polish, but are somewhat more heavily and 

 handsomely marked. The color is creamy-white with heavy blotches of 

 umber-brown generally distributed, but occurring most thickly at the 

 greater ends ; fine dottings of lighter brown, and a few spots of pale lav- 

 ender, fill in the intermediate spaces. They measure, respectively, .71 X 

 .60, .71 X.60, .72X.60, .72X.61. In each of these two sets the eggs show 

 unusually little variation inter se. 



