THE LABGE-BILLED WAGTAIL. 151 



Mr. Brewster then gives a pleasant description of the second nest, taken 

 May 8, on the opposite side of the same pond, in a precisely similar situ- 

 ation, where his previous experience enabled him to find it directly. In 

 shape it was nearly square, "measuring externally 6.50 inches in diameter 

 by 3-54 inches in depth. The inner nest measures 2.73 inches in diameter 

 by 2.50 inches in depth, and is lined with dry grasses, leaf-stems, and a 

 few white hairs. The eggs were four in number and perfectly fresh. They 

 agree closely in shape with those of the first set, and have an equally high 

 polish, but are somewhat more heavily and handsomely marked. The color 

 is creamy white with heavy blotches of umber brown generally distributed, 

 but occurring most thickly at the greater ends; fine dottings of lighter brown, 

 and a few spots of pale lavender, fill in the intermediate spaces. They meas- 

 ure, respectively, .71X.60, .71X.60, .72X.60, .72X.61. In each of these two 

 sets the eggs show unusually little variation inter se." On May 12, a third 

 nest was found by Mr. Robert Ridgway, on the shore of an isolated little 

 woodland pond, which contained five young birds, well feathered and nearly 

 able to fly. The site, in this instance, was at the foot of a huge stump, 

 the nest being placed in a cavity in the rotten wood. Still another nest 

 was found by Mr. Brewster, April 29, under the bank of White river, among 

 the earth and roots, and well sheltered by the projection of the bank above. 

 The female was sitting upon the empty nest, and was shot as she flew 

 from it. 



In "The Oologist" (Vol. IV, No. 2, pp. 10, 11, April, 1878), Mr. Adolphe 

 B. Covert describes its nest and eggs as follows : " On the 7th of June I 

 found the nest to contain five eggs, and shot the parent bird, which proved 

 to be the large-billed species. The nest was built on the ground, at the 

 base of a large black ash, partially under and against a large root, which 

 formed an arch over half of the nest. It was composed of a layer of dead 

 leaves, moss, fine roots, and dried grasses, compactly and rather smoothly 

 finished, and lined with fine grass and some cows' hair. The eggs were 

 five in number, white (of a roseate tinge before blown), thickly spotted 

 with small reddish brown spots; they measure about .78 by .59 of an inch." 

 I am unable so much as to guess where this nest was discovered, since the 

 author neglects to give any locality. 



As the above comprises all that is at present known concerning the nid- 

 ification of this bird*, it will not seem out of place to give, in this con- 

 nection, the results of my own observations on the nestling of this Accentor 

 at Highland Falls, where, as stated at the commencement, it is a common 

 summer resident. 1 remember quite well the first nest that I discovered — 



* Besides the above, I am informed that a notice of its breeding appeared in 

 Forest and Stream, sometime during the past year. 



