400 NOETH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



contained five eggs. It is of remarkable size in proportion to that of its 

 builder, measuring eight inches in diameter. It is flattened in shape, and 

 its cavity, though large, is not deep. The height of the nest is three and a 

 quarter inches, and the depth of the base is fully two and a half inches. The 

 cavity is less than an inch deep, and is four inches in diameter. The base 

 and outer periphery of this nest are of a coarse interlacing of the small ends 

 of branches of fir and spruce trees. Within this is built a close, compact 

 inner nest, chiefly composed of a lichen peculiar to Arctic regions, called 

 tree-hair, which hangs abundantly from the branches of trees in northern 

 forests. It resembles a mass of delicate black rootlets. Tliese are not un- 

 common ingredients in the nests of northern birds, especially of European. 

 In America, Arctic nests of the A. carolincnsis are occasionally built of simi- 

 lar materials. With these lichens are also mingled fragments of dry leaves 

 and soft dark-colored mosses. The rim of the nest is strongly made, almost 

 exclusively of these fine dark-colored lichens. This kind of lichen is not 

 always black, but is often brown, and even whitish. In some of these 

 nests silvery fibres of grass-leaves are mingled with the lichens, and in one 

 or two there is a slight lining of feathers. 



The Lapland nests were built on the branch of a tree, at a distance from 

 the trunk, and stood up from it unsupported by the surrounding twigs, and 

 at the lieight of from six to twelve feet from the ground. They were gener- 

 ally much exposed, and were, for the most part, built in tlie more open por- 

 tions of the forests. The general number of the eggs was five, in one 

 instance it was six. 



The nest from the Yukon, obtained by Mr. Kennicott (S. Coll., 6,326), is 

 smaller, and bears but little resemblance to the European. It is but five 

 inches in diameter, of irregular shape. In height and cavity it nearly cor- 

 responds. In place of the lichens of the European, this nest is made of fine 

 grass-stems, strips of bark, and a few feathers. 



The eggs of this bird, the gift of Mr. Wolley, measure an inch in length, 

 and from .70 to .67 of an inch in breadth. Their ground-color varies from a 

 light slate to a yellowish stone-color. They are marked, blotched, and dotted 

 with spots of various hues and size. These are chiefly of a dark purple, at 

 times approaching black. Mingled with these are markings of a yellowish- 

 brown. Nearly all these spots are surrounded by a peculiar penumbra, or 

 shading, such as forms so marked a feature in the eggs of the common 

 Cedar-Bird. 



The egg obtained by Kennicott on the Yukon is smaller than the Euro- 

 pean specimen, measuring .90 by .65 of an inch. Its ground is more of a 

 greenish-slate or stone-color, and the spots are of a dark brown, with a deep 

 violet shadino-. 



