NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



number, and nrieasure .87 by .69. The nesting habits are exactly similar 



to those of ^V. Sia/lS. Hab. western united states, from Rocky Mts. to the Pacific. 



24. Rocky Mountain Bluebird — sialia arctica. Very light blue, 

 paler than those of the other species, four or five in number and measure 

 .89 by .66. This bird nests about old buildings, unused excavations 

 about mines, among rocks and more rarely in the deserted excavations of 

 woodpeckers. It is said to be very shy and difficult to obtain. 



Hab Central table-lands of North America, east to mouth of Yellowstone. Not common on the Pacific 

 Slope. 



25. Townsend's Solitaire — myiadestes townsendi. Dull white, thickly 

 blotched or dotted with reddish-brown, resembling very closely the eggs 

 of the Shrikes, usually four in number and measure .84 by .64. The nest 

 is coarsely built of twigs, sticks and grasses very loosely put together. It 

 is generally placed in the crevices of rocks, oftener perhaps, under a 

 shelving or overhanging rock. 



Hab. IMountainous regions, of Middle and Western United States. 



2(). Black-Crested Flycatcher — phainopepla nitens. Light slate, 

 tinged with yellowish-green, marked, blotched and spotted from light, 

 obscure purple to deeper tints of purplish-brown and black. It is a pecu- 

 liar looking egg in markings and rather long in shape, two or three in 

 number, and measures .92 by .61. The nest is placed in a small tree not 

 more than twelve feet from the ground. It is rather a flat structure com- 

 posed of twigs, stems, mosses and vegetable fibres and is lined with finer 

 vegetable substances. In California the eggs are laid from the middle of 

 May until as late as the first of July according to locality. The bird occurs 

 in the mountainous portions of United States from Fort Tejon, Cal, to 

 Mexico, and from the Rio Grande to San Diego. 



27. Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher — polioptila c^rulea. Greenish-white, 

 dotted and blotched with reddish-brown, lilac and slate ; usually five in 

 number and measure .55 by .45. This diminutive bird is common from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific ; specimens having been taken from New York 

 to Mexico and Guatemala, and from Washington Territory to California. 

 Breeds abundantly in Ohio, where I have taken many nests. The nest for 

 beauty has few equals. It is usually built in the small forks of a tree sit- 

 uated in open woods and ranging from ten to fifty feet from the ground. 

 I have also found nests placed on the large horizontal trunks. At a short 

 distance the nest looks like a round knot growing out of the branch, it 

 being covered on the outside with small pieces of star-shaped lichens. 

 Soft downy materials such as fine dry grasses, stems of old leaves, cotton- 

 like substance of withered blossoms and down of the milk- weed are chiefly 



