JOURNAI, OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAI^ SOCIKTY. 73 



three or more branches or on top of a limb at some distance from 

 the trunk and even near the extremity of the limb. The height of 

 the nest may be as low as four feet from the ground or as high as 

 twenty-five feet, eight to ten feet up being a fair average. 



The foundation of the nest consists of spruce, fir or hemlock 

 twigs from which the spills have fallen. A number of these twigs 

 are arranged and compactly criss-crossed and rounded. Next comes 

 a superstructure, often composed of fine plant fibres and grass stems, 

 and then comes a lining of horsehair and feathers. In some nests 

 the lining is simply hair, but in most examples feathers play an im- 

 portant part. A majority of the nests I have seen were lined with 

 the feathers from the breasts of various small birds which had been 

 picked up here and there. These feathers were many of them 

 placed so that their bases were imbedded in the bottom of the nest 

 structure and the tips of the feathers arose above the border of the 

 nest and curved until the tips of the entire circlet met above the 

 center of the nest, hiding its contents from view. The dimensions 

 of a typical nest are ; Diameter, outside, 4.5 inches, inside, 2.25 

 inches; depth, outside, 1.75 inches, inside, i inch. 



The number of eggs laid is usually four, often five and some- 

 times only three. The extreme dates in my possession when fresh 

 eggs were found near Bangor are between May 30th and June 6th ; 

 a nest found June 14th contained young about a week old. The 

 time taken to build a nest is about ten days. The female does most 

 of the work, but the male, occasionally, at least, brings some mate- 

 rial and often is present and sings while the female is working. The 

 eggs are usually laid one each day until the set is complete, though 

 occasionally a day may be skipped without laying. Incubation 

 ordinarily begins upon deposition of the first egg, or, at any rate, 

 the female is usually found sitting upon a nest containing only one 

 or two eggs, and which later has four or five eggs as the full com- 

 plement. The eggs are dull white or creamy white in ground color, 

 wreathed with a circle of spots about the larger end, these spots 

 being of various shades of brown, red-brown, lilac, umber and grey. 

 A few scattered spots may also be found on other portions of the 



