404 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



composed of tlie ends of twigs, coarse stems of vegetables, and grasses. 

 Within this they build a compact, well-made fabric of grasses, grapevine 

 bark, and other finer substances, lining the whole with leaves and fine root- 

 fibres. The cavity is large and deep for the bird. The parents are fourteen 

 days in incubating before the young are hatched out, and all this while are 

 remarkably silent, hardly uttering a sound, even their faintest lisping note, 

 when the nest is meddled with, though they evince great anxiety by their 

 fearless indifference to their own danger. 



The eggs, usually five, sometimes six, in number, have a marked resem- 

 blance to those of the Waxwing, but are smaller. Their ground-color varies 

 from a light slate-color to a deep shade of stone-color, tinged with olive. 

 These are marked with blotches of a dark purplish-brown, almost black, 

 lighter shades of a dark purple, and penumbree of faint purple, sometimes 

 by themselves or surrounding and continuing the darker spots. They vary 

 in length from .80 to .88 of an inch, and average about .85. In breadth they 

 are from .60 to .70 of an inch, and in shape they difter also from an oblong- 

 oval to one of a quite rounded form. 



Nests of these birds from the Arctic regions are more elaborately built and 

 more warmly lined, being often largely made up of the fine dark- colored 

 lichens that cover the forest trees of those regions. 



Subfamily PTILOGONATINiE. 



Char. Legs moderate. Nostrils oval, with wide naked membrane above and to some 

 extent behind them ; the frontal feathers not reaching to their border, and rather soft. 

 Wings graduated, shorter than the somewhat broad, fan-shaped tail; the first quill nearly- 

 half the second. Adults plain. 



Although we find it convenient for the present to retain the genera Ptilo- 

 gonys and Myiadestes in the same subfamily, there seems little doubt that 

 they belong to very different families, the latter being more properly placed 

 in Turdidce, as shown in Eev. Am. Birds. It is not necessary that the sub- 

 ject be discussed here, however, and we merely give the diagnosis of the two 

 groups of which these genera are the types respectively : — 



Ptilogonateae. Tarsi scutellate anteriorly ; not longer than middle toe and claw. 

 Myiadesteae. Tarsi with a continuous plate anteriorly ; longer than middle toe and 

 claw. 



Section P T I L O G O N AT E/E . 



Char. Tarsus stout, shorter, or not longer than the middle toe and claw ; conspicuously 

 scutellate anteriorly, and frequently on one or other or on both sides ; sometimes with a 

 row of small plates behind. Wings much graduated ; the second quill not longer than 

 secondaries. Outline of lateral tail-feathers parallel or widening from base to near tip. 

 Tail unvaried, or else inornate at end. Quills without light patch at base. Head crested. 

 Young birds not spotted. Not conspicuous for song. 



