SYLVICOLID.E — THE WARBLERS. 283 



On the 7th of June, 1858, I came accidentally upon a nest of this bird 

 of a very different style of structure. It was in a thick wood in Hingham. 

 The nest was built in a depression in the ground at the foot of some low bushes, 

 and its top was completely covered by surrounding vines and wild flowers. 

 It would probably have escaped notice had not my daughter, then a child 

 of four years, attempted to gather some wild flowers growing directly over 

 its entrance. This flushed the mother, who until then had remained quiet, 

 although we were standing with our feet almost upon the nest, and the bird 

 fluttered and tumbled about at our feet with well-feigned manoeuvres to distract 

 our attention. The child in great glee sought to catch it, but it eluded her 

 grasp, and, running off like a mouse, disappeared. The nest contained six 

 eggs, was entirely open, and with no other cover than the wild plants that 

 clustered above it. As to its identity there was no doubt, as the parent was 

 afterwards snared upon its nest. This nest was somewhat loosely constructed 

 of skeleton leaves, dry slender stalks, grasses, and pine-needles, and was 

 lined with a few slender grasses and leaves. It had a diameter of six inches, 

 and was two. and a half inches deep. The cup had a diameter of three and 

 a half inches and a depth of two, being very large for the size of the bird, 

 probably owing to the shape of the cavity in which it was sunk. 



The nest of this bird seems to be a favorite place of resort for the Cow 

 Blackbird to deposit its egg. In one nest, found by Mr. Vickary in Lynn, 

 no less than three eggs of these parasites had been placed. 



The eggs of the Golden-crowned Thrush are subject to considerable varia- 

 tions. Their markings differ in their colors and shades, and yet more in num- 

 ber, size, and manner of distribution. The eggs are oval in shape, one end 

 being but very slightly smaller than the other. Their average length is .82 

 of an inch, and their breadth is .55 of an inch. Their ground-color is a beau- 

 tiful creamy-white. They are marked, usually principally about the larger 

 end, with dots and blotches, intermingled, of red, reddish-brown, lilac, darker 

 purple, and ferruginous. Occasionally these make a beautiful crown around 

 the larger end, leaving the rest of the surface nearly free from spots. 



Seiurus noveboracensis, Nutt. 



SMALL-BILLED WATER THRUSH. 



Motacilla noveboracensis, Gmelin, S. N. I, 1788, 958. Sylvia nov. Lath. ; Vieillot, Ois. 

 Am. Sept. n, pi. Ixxxii. Semrus nov. Nutt. ; Bon. ; Aud. Birds Am. IH, pi. cxcix. 

 — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 261, pi. Ixxx, fig. 1; Eev. 215. —Max. Cab. Jour. 

 1858,121. — Dall & Bannister (Alaska). — Samuels, 220. Hcnicocichla nov. Cab. 

 Schom. Guiana, III, 666; Jour. 1860, 324 (Costa Rica). — Sclater (Tobago).— 

 GuNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba). Mniotilta nov. Gray. ?? Motacilla fusces- 

 cens, Gmelin, S. N. 984 (biased on Ficedula jamaicensis, Brisson, III, 512, Jamaica). 

 Turdus aquaticus, Wils. ; Aud. Orn. Biog. 1839, 284, pi. ccccxxxiii. Sylvia anthoides, 

 Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. XI, 1817, 208. Scitiriislenuirostris, Sw. 1827 ; Gamb. Seiurus 



