ii6 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 18-N0. 8 



breaking had taken place some time before 

 I found them. I forgot to mention that, in 

 the first instance, neither the eggs nor the 

 nest were in any way disturbed beyond part- 

 ing the grass above in order to see the eggs 

 distinctly. 



I will add here that if Short-bill " decoys " 

 are found in June, it is well to mark them 

 and pay another visit about the middle of 

 July, as of the nests just mentioned one held 

 seven eggs and another six when visited 

 about a month later. J. //. Boxvles. 



Ponkapog, Mass. 



August Nests and Birds. 



During the last twenty days of August I 

 fourtd and examined eighteen nests of the 

 American Goldfinch, or Thistle-bird. All 

 were situated in untrimmed hedges of osage 

 orange, growing from eight to fourteen feet 

 high, and within a radius of two miles from 

 town. Other observers note this bird's nest- 

 ing in orchards, especially in young apple 

 trees, but I carefully explored all the or- 

 chards in this neighborhood without finding 

 a single nest of the Goldfinch except in 

 hedges. The nests were usually placed 

 about three-fourths the height of the hedge, 

 on an obliquely ascending branch, fastened 

 around it and smaller outgrowing twigs. One 

 nest was saddled on a horizontal limb and 

 was not supported by smaller twigs, though 

 several thorns aided in giving a firm base to 

 the structure. There is much variation in 

 the construction of the nests, especially in 

 the external depth, which ranges from two 

 to nearly four inches. One nest, made of 

 fine bark fibres, was well rounded and closely 

 woven, and covered without with fragments 

 of gossamer, which gave it a grayer appear- 

 ance than most of the other nests. Within 

 was a layer of whitish horse hair, and within 

 the latter was the downy bed of thistle. An- 

 other nest' contained many fibres of a yel- 

 lowish brown bar-k, had no hair in its lining, 

 and its cavity was larger and deeper. One 



nest had much dried " pepper-grass " woven 

 into its walls. The female sitting upon the 

 nest is not easily alarmed, but when driven 

 from her home she will perch upon an ad- 

 jacent limb and utter the syllables "pee pee" 

 oft repeated in a very plaintive tone. No 

 nests were found containing more than five 

 eggs, which seemed to be the usual full com- 

 plement. In all cases the eggs were fresh, 

 except one set of four and another of three 

 heavily incubated. Three nests contained 

 young recently hatched, and several more 

 nests were in various stages of construction. 



Another late-nesting bird is the Vellow- 

 billed Cuckoo. Within the second and third 

 weeks of August I found seven nests of this 

 species, all in the hedge above described. 

 In all cases the nests were placed on hori- 

 zontal branches, frequently where two cross- 

 ing limbs gave a firm foundation for the 

 loose structure made by this builder. The 

 nest was usually at a point above half the 

 height of the hedge. It is a loosely con- 

 structed affair, though firmer and deeper 

 than the nest of the Mourning Dove, and 

 quite similarly situated, and the Cuckoo sit- 

 ting upon the nest, when approached from 

 the rear, may be easily mistaken for the 

 Dove. One nest was built of heavy sticks 

 and roots, some of which were one-fourth of 

 an inch in diameter and eight inches long, 

 laid loosely together, with dried leaves, corn 

 husks, grapevine bark and rootlets inter- 

 mixed. The cavity was three inches across 

 and one inch deep, though most of the nests 

 were shallower. Another nest had for bed- 

 ding two inches of corn silk, with many 

 stalks of the corn bloom or tassel laid among 

 the sticks. Four of the nests each contained 

 three fresh eggs, two nests contained two 

 fresh eggs each, and the remaining nest held 

 two newly hatched young, one egg just 

 hatching and one decayed egg. 



Late nests of the Black-throated Bunting, 

 " Dickcissle," were placed in untrimmed 

 hedges at distances from the ground varying 

 from five to eight feet. I found four such 



