THE OOLOGIST 



59 



it mingles with the mixed bunch of 

 migrating warblers for a week or 

 more then repairs to its breeding 

 grounds. 



All the nests that I have ever seen 

 were placed in hemlock trees usually 

 on a horizontal limb over an opening, 

 as a wood road or over the water in 

 the gully but a few were in rather 

 thick places and being placed among 

 the thick leaves are easily overlook- 

 ed. 



The nest is compact, deeply cupped 

 and is composed of fine dead hemlock 

 twigs and strips of bark, lined with 

 fine dead grass, rootlets, fine strips 

 of bark, hair and sometimes a few 

 feathers. Attached to the outside are 

 little bunches of yellowish wooly sub- 

 stance and little fluffy bunches of 

 spiders silk. 



All of the following nests were 

 found in these gullies: 



Nest No. 1. The first nest that I 

 ever found (June 1, 1903) was in a 

 small, tall, spindling hemlock in a 

 bunch of rudimentary limbs 30 ft from 

 the ground against the body of the 

 tree. It was in a rather dark place 

 among a lot of large hemlocks and 

 pines about 30 ft. back from the gully 

 bank. I kicked the tree and the fe- 

 male left the nest sailing away to a 

 distant tree but came back bringing 

 the male while I was at the nest. 

 There were four eggs, incubation just 

 begun. 



Nest No. 2. .June 28, 1903. This 

 was in the same gully as No. 1 and 

 was in a medium sized hemlock 10 ft. 

 up and 4 ft. from the body of the tree, 

 in an open place or slanting. The fe- 

 male was on the nest but left it when 

 I began to climb and hopped about 

 near by while I was at the nest. There 

 were four eggs which must have 

 hatched in about four or five days. 

 One of the eggs was abnormal, be- 

 ing very much elongated. 



Xest No. 3. June 2, 1904. In a rath- 

 er open place on the bank of Belknap 

 Gully where a few tall spindling hem- 

 locks (the large ones had been cut 

 out) and in one of these which was 

 about 3 in. in diameter I found a nest 

 resting on a small bushy limb against 

 the body of the tree about 16 ft. from 

 the ground. While I was at the nest 

 the female came so close that I could 

 almost reach her. The nest was made 

 of small hemlock twigs, lined with 

 fine strips of inner bark, very fine 

 dead grass and some horsehair. There 

 were some bunches of the wooly sub- 

 stance and a strip of birch bark at- 

 tached to the outside of the nest and 

 it contained 5 fresh eggs. 



Nest No. 4. June 5, 1904. This nest 

 was at least 30 rods back from the gul- 

 ly bank, on level ground and a few 

 rods from the edge of some woods in 

 a small hemlock 15 ft. up and 3 ft. 

 out on a horizontal limb and contained 

 4 eggs. 



Nest No. 5, June 11, 1904. A de- 

 serted nest was 15 ft. up in a hemlock 

 and 6 ft. out over a wood road. It 

 contained one fresh egg, one egg with 

 a hole in it and the shell of another 

 egg. 



Nest No. 6, June 19, 1904. This was 

 7 ft. out on a drooping branch of a 

 good sized hemlock that grew out of 

 the bank 15 ft. from the bottom of 

 Chidsey GullJ^ It was 35 ft. above 

 the gully bottom and contained 4 

 fresh eggs. The female remained on 

 the nest until I touched her with a 

 stick then slipped off and remained 

 near and did not make a bit of fuss. 

 The eggs are about the handsomest of 

 any of this species that I have ever 

 seen, having a creamy white ground 

 thickly blotched, spotted and specked 

 around the larger end with dark chest- 

 nut and lavender shell markings, the 

 specks and a few spots extending 

 over the rest of the egg. 



