88 NEBRASKA ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION 



attracted by the peculiar actions of a pair of warblers, and began to 

 watch them. In about ten minutes Mr. Cary located a nest by seeing- 

 the female fly to it with building material. It was situated on a 

 horizontal limb of a small pine growing- on the side of a ravine, and 

 so cleverly tucked away in a bunch of needles that it could not jiossi- 

 bly be seen except from one point. It was still incoiuplete and the full 

 complement of four eggs was not secured until the 27th. The nest 

 was built externally of pine bark fibres with horsehair woven into the 

 inner part and lined entirely with fine soft feathers, many of the tips 

 of which curled inward from the brim, nearly concealing the eggs at 

 the bottom. The nest measured about 75 mm. in diameter externally, 

 and 4.2 mm. internally; about 62 mm. in depth externally, and 30 nim. 

 internallj'. The four slightly inciibated eggs have a pale, greenish-blue 

 background, and with one exception are marked around the larger end 

 with a wreath of fine specks and dots of burnt umber and cinnamon 

 and larger shell markings of lilac. One egg, in addition, is blotched over 

 the entire surface with dull cinnamon. The average size is 18x13 mm. 



The birds were very clever at leading a person from their nest. On 

 several occasions I have seen both the male and female exhibit the 

 greatest excitement when a certain place was approached and whei-e I 

 am sure they had no nest, because in a few moments they would quietly 

 slip away and leave you without a clue as to where the nest really was. 



Long-tailed Chat (Icteria virens longicauda) . — Little need be said about 

 the breeding- of this bird, since its habits are identical "with those of the 

 Yellow-breasted Chat. The birds were abundant, frequenting the thick- 

 ets along the valley streams, where they kept themselves and nests 

 well hidden away. Several nests were found, the time for fresh eggs 

 being- about the 1st of July. The nests were built rather loosely of bark, 

 roots, and grass, lined with fine round grass stems and usually placed 

 in the centre of a thicket in a choke-chei-rj' bush. 



MocKiNGBiED {M'wius pohjglottos) . — While on Indian Creek an adult 

 female and a young male were secured. They were in a little draw, run- 

 ning- back from Indian Creek, the bottom of which was thickly over- 

 grown with sage bi'ush and greasewood and a few cottonwoods scat- 

 tered along the sides. 



Later, in July, Mr. Cary and I were riding along the road at the mouth 

 of Monroe Canon when we saw a mockingbird sitting- on a fencepost 

 at the side of the road. 



Rock Wren {Salpinctes obsoletus). — The Eock Wren is very abundant 

 along the Pine Eidge and in the Bad Lands, where its cheerful, though 

 not at all melodious song- and sprightly manners greatly relieve the 

 monotony. Nesting as it does in the cracks and crannies of the rocks 

 and clay banks, it is very frequently to be met with in the most in- 

 hospitable and usually the most inaccessible spots. Outside of the 

 Bad Lands, perhaps the best place to find them is along the crest of the 

 ridge around the little rocky buttes, formed by the outcroiiping of 



