would naturally be a frail, hastily put iogether affair ; scanty in both 

 material and labor expended. Such a structure came under my notice on 

 May 29, 1887, in a dark, swampy thicket of a mixed growth of trees 

 and saplings, and abounding in greenbriers; at the extremity of a branch of 

 a small, wide-spreading beech tree, fifteen feet above a stagnant pool of 

 water, I found the nest, a mere platform of slender twigs laid together in 

 the manner of a Cuckoo's nest, but without such extra embellishments as 

 pieces of green leaves, tree blossoms, etc., usually found in the latter's 

 domicile. It contained two eggs, and three young birds just hatched. 

 The parent birds successfully reared their brood of three young, and 

 would surely have increased the number to five, had I not arrived just in 

 time to save the two unspotted eggs, which are now included in my large 

 series of sets of this species. 



Little attention has been paid to the composition of nests in relation to 

 the seasonal or climatic conditions. This is surprising, considering the 

 many interesting facts which might be brought to light in furtherance of 

 of some nicely laid hypothesis. The nest is the direct result of the bird's 

 ingenuity, bounded only by its instinct and surroundings. My notes 

 bearing on this subject were collected during a decade of years, and are 

 sufficiently numerous and accurate to enable me to make the following de- 

 ductions: Nests built during March and the first week in April, do not differ 

 in external material from the typical nest, but in addition to the strips of 

 soft lining of tree bark and rarely grape vine or cedar bark, all nests ex- 

 amined contained an inner lining of some animal substance, of which horse 

 hair constitutes about 50 per cent., hog bristles 40 per cent., and sheep's 

 wool, feathers, and cow hair the remaining 10 percent. Nests built dur- 

 ing the last week in April and during May, are lined with strips of tree 

 and grape vine bark, 63 per cent, containing no other lining, 37 per cent, 

 containing in addition to the above lining, hog bristles ; no other animal 

 substance being noted in late nests. While the Crow shows a marked 

 tendency, during the height of the nest-building season, toward gathering 

 indiscriminately whatever comes handiest for lining, the evident knowl- 

 edge displayed by the early breeders in choosing the warmest m.aterial 

 at hand ; and the late builders in lining their nests with what is undoubt- 

 edly the coolest, speaks highly for the intelligence of the bird. That this 

 does not apply to certain individuals alone, (which may habitually nest 

 early or late as the case may be), is proven by notes at hand of those that 

 have built their second nest after the first had been destroyed. While 

 the bulk of the nest may be the same, they do not place animal material 

 in the lining of the second nest, although the first nest usually contains 

 it. No doubt exceptions will be found to this rule, but I have found it to 

 hold good in all cases under mv observation. 



