THE GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER. 109 



fortnight, and in Georgia three weeks earlier. Situations cho- 

 sen are the edges of the woods and the damp hillsides, but near- 

 ness to a road does not prove an objection. The female seems 

 to be the architect. 



Newton township, near Boston, jSIass., appears to have been 

 a good breeding ground for these warblers. There, in 1869, 

 Mr. C.J. Maynard discovered a typical nest minutely described 

 in his Naturalist's Guide. Like all previously recorded, it was 

 placed on the ground, on a small piece of green moss, '' partly 

 overshadowed by some ferns and rank weeds ; but these must 

 have grown after the nest was built,'" so that there was no at- 

 tempt at concealment. " The nest is composed outwai'dly of 

 large oak-leaves of the previous year, and grape-vine bark, 

 and is lined, not very smoothly, with line grass and a few horse- 

 hairs. It is large for the size of the bird, quite deep, and 

 slightly smaller at the top than in the middle. The whole 

 structure is not nearh' as neat as would be expected for so 

 small and elegant a bird, and reminds one strikingly of the nest 

 of the Maryland yellow-throat. Tlie dimensions are : depth 

 extei'nally 3.15 inches, internally 2.20; diameter internally in 

 the middle 2.25, at the top 1.90; diameter externally 3.50." 



This seems to have been an extraordinarily capacious nest, 

 for of several others from the same state, none present so large 

 dimensions, although all agree closely in structure. Two nests 

 in the Smithsonian from Racine, Wis., taken by Dr. P. R. Hoy, 

 in June, without their outer wall of leaves, are built of fine 

 grasses, neatly bent and woven : one is lined with white horse- 

 hair, the other not. A large bulky nest from Georgia (Dr. 

 Gerhardt) is chiefly composed of leaves, with fine, fibrous lining. 

 An Ohio nest is essentially similar in all respects ; it contained 

 two cow-bird's eggs. 



A large series of eggs measured, show average dimensions 

 of .73 by .53 of an inch ; but, though borne out in few 

 this is hardly a fair estimate, since the majority have a propor- 

 tion of about .68 to .^3. One \vriter thought he detected a 

 difl'erence in the size of the eggs according to latitude, some 

 from Wisconsin measuring .70 bv .53 of an inch, while speci- 



