TEE BED- POLL. 143 



and apparently took no more interest than the female in the destruction of 

 their mutual hopes. Embryos of small size had already formed in the eggs, 

 so that incubation must have been begun three or four days previously. This 

 nest was placed at the height of about 35 feet from the ground, on the stout 

 horizontal branch of a southern pine, one of a thinly scattered grove or belt 

 that stretched along the edge of a densely wooded hummock. It was set 

 flatly on the limb, — not saddled to it, — nearly midway between the juncture 

 with the main trunk and the extremity of the twigs, and was attached to the 

 rough bark by silky fibres. It is composed externally of a few short twigs 

 and strips of bark, bound together by Spanish moss and a silky down from 

 plants. The lining consists of a few hair-like filaments of moss and soft cot- 

 tony vegetable fibres. The whole structure is neatly and firmly compacted, 

 though essentially simple in appearance, and, from the nature of the compo- 

 nent materials, of a grayish inconspicuous color. In size, shape and general 

 formation, it very nearly resembles nests of the black-throated green warbler 

 in my collection. It measures externally 2. So inches in diameter by 1.70 in 

 depth. The eggs, four in number, measure .69 by .53 of an inch. They are 

 quite regularly ovate, with fine dottings of pale lilac scattered thinly and 

 evenly over a grayish white ground-color. A few spots or blotches of burnt 

 sienna occur about the large ends, while occasional irregular, pen-like lines 

 of dark brown diversify the remaining surface. 



Mr. Brewster shows that every account pubhshed hitherto of the 

 nesting of this species is open to doubt, if not manifestly wrong, 

 inckiding the elaborate descriptions by Brewer and Coues from an 

 alleged specimen in the National Museum. 



89. KIRTLAND'S WARBLER. 



DENDRCECA KIRTLANDI Baird. 



Concerning this very rare summer resident of the region of the 

 Great Lakes, we are so ill informed that nothing can be said in 

 elucidation of its breeding, 



90. THE RED-POLL. 



DENDRCECA PALMARUM. 

 Palm "Warbler ; yellow Red-poll "Warbler ; Fauvette a tete rouge (Canada). 



The habitat of the red-poll in the breeding months includes the 

 eastern half of Canada and Labrador ; for, though abundant in 



