Io6 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



only her tail showing ; the male soon came to the pine opposite 

 with a beakful of moths. Upon seeing me, he flew indirectly to a 

 white pine. When he ostentatiously came from the pine, his beak 

 was empty. Somewhat later, I surprised the female walking out 

 the branch to her nest. 



The little deceit the Bay-breast had been practicing was now 

 laid bare. They had come to the Junco nest from the opposite part 

 of the pasture. At that time the female was incubating. 



I sat some distance from the nest and attempted to watch the 

 male gather his morning meal. He flew from the neighborhood of 

 his abode to a pine, and alighted on a large branch across which the 

 sunshine fell in bars. The bird sat crosswise the branch, with out- 

 spread wings, perfectly quiet. I could scarcely distinguish him 

 from the reddish-brown, lichen-covered bark. The motionless head 

 resembled nothing so much as a knot. I left him there in the same 

 position. 



The following day the Professor placed a ladder in the pine 

 next the hr, so that I could sit a bit more than a yard from the Bay- 

 breasts and watch their housekeeping. iVlthough the branch hold- 

 ing the nest was badly shaken in putting up the ladder, and we 

 were obliged to talk while arranging it, the female kept her place 

 on the nest. I watched her two hours before she made the slightest 

 move. The male flew into the tree with a beakful of caterpillars 

 and called very softly see-see-see several times, but she was deaf to 

 his entreaties. 



The tree in which the nest was placed had many partly dead 

 branches. The nest was much the color of these. The crown and 

 throat of the female also had the same tone of terra cotta. The 

 brown-black and warm-gray, almost lavender, upper parts of the 

 female are nearly the same tone as the bark and lichens of the fir 

 or pine. The bird or nest could be detected with difflculty, so 

 deftly had the wise little builders concealed it. 



The male, who does not assist in incubating, is a bit more 

 noticeable than the female, although they resemble each other 



