, THE KINGBIRD. 239 



liawtliorn, locust, wild pluin, orange, and lemon, as well as in shvubs and bushes 

 of different kinds, o-enerally at a distance of from 4 to 40 feet from the ground. 

 They are usually ])laced in a fork or crotch on a horizontal Ijranch, and fre- 

 quently well out on the limb. They are not at all ])articular in th(^ selection of 

 a nesting site; I have seen nests placed on a fence rail (sometimes on toj) of one) 

 and again between the rails not over 2 feet from the ground, in tlie hollow tops 

 of stumps, iuid in abandoned nests of the Robin and the Bronzed Grackle. 

 Dr. A. K. Fisher informs me that at Red Cloud, Nebraska, on July 3, 1893, a 

 female was found sitting on a, nest j)laced on top of a fence post, near the rail- 

 road track. It is not evident why this site was chosen, as plenty of trees grew in 

 the vicinity. There was no shelter above to protect the nest from the sun, and 

 when seen the female was panting from the heat. 



Mr. Elmer T. Judd, of Cando, North Dakota, writes: "A ])air of these l)irds 

 Avere noticed building a nest on a sulky plow, and after tlie nest was nearly 

 completed the plow was required and used, but the nest was not disturbed. On 

 finishing the work I put the plow back in about the same place, and after a. day 

 or two of consideration the l)irds finished the nest, laid their effo-s and i-aised a 

 brood of young. Two little girls used to visit the })lace every day, and tlie l)ird 

 Avould almost let them put their hands on it before leaving the nest. In this 

 section they usually lay our eg'gs, and the cai-liest date of nesting- is June 

 29; the latest, the third week in July. Their favorite nesting sites here are in 

 wild plum Inishes, from 4 to (! feet from the ground, and I have also noticed 

 them nesting in eave troughs and binders." 



The Kingliird, like many other species, after selecting a suitalde nesting 

 site and raising its young unmolested, will generally retiirn to it from year to 

 yeai". The nest is usually well and compactly built, and varies more or less in 

 size and Indk, according to the site. A typical nest now before me, taken by Dr. 

 Edgar A. Mearns, United States Army, near Fort Snelling, Minnesota, measures 

 about 5i^ inches in outer diameter by 3^- inches in depth; its inner diameter 

 is 3 inches by If inches deep. Its exterior is c(justructed of small twigs and 

 dry weed stems, mixed with cottonwood down, pieces of twine, and a little hair. 

 The iinier cup is lined with fine dry grass, a few rootlets, and a small quantity 

 of horsehair. In other specimens bits of wool, strips of bark, thistle down, cattle 

 hair, and fine rootlets are incorporated in tlie body of the nest. In the South the 

 gray Spanish moss frequentl}' forms the bulk of the outer walls, while in the Adi- 

 rondack mountains, in Herkimer County, N^w York, in June, 1892, Dr. Ralph 

 and the writer took a nest of this species from a crotcli formed by the trunk 

 and two broken branches of a small dead birch stump, about 8 feet fn)m 

 the ground, which was externally consti-ucted of the long, green tree moss of 

 that region, mixed with a few fine roots and twigs, milkweed down, weeds, and 

 grasses, and lined with fine roots, hair, milkweed do\\n, a little tree-moss, JJrsnca, 

 and a few l)lades of fine grass. The stump stood 1)\' itself on the edge of a 

 small swamp, and the nest could be plainly seen for some distance. ^l\: Yj. A. 

 Mcllhenny tells me that in the willow swamps in southern Louisiana these birds 



