350 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



edged with white ; below yellow. Plumage of immature male, second year : 

 similar to first year plumage but with throat black and occasional chestnut 

 patches below. Plumage of adult and immature females : grayish olive 

 green above ; head, rump and tail rather brighter or olive green ; middle and 

 greater wing coverts whitish edged or tipped ; wings fuscous ; below dull 

 yellow, occasionally with a few black feathers on the throat. Wing 3.10 ; 

 culmen 0.68. 



Geog. Dist. — Eastern North America, breeding from Texas and the Gulf 

 States to Massachusetts and Ontario ; wintering in Central America to Pan- 

 ama ; casual in Maine. 



County Records. — Androscoggin; have one taken near Auburn, (Pike). 

 Knox ; a specimen was taken at Thomaston by Chas. A. Creighton, (E. Smith). 

 Washington ; accidental, a male taken here in the early sixties, (Boardman). 



The species is a mere straggler to Maine, only three speci- 

 mens being known. I became well acquainted with them at 

 Marlin, Texas, in May, 1891, at which time they were nesting. 

 A nest which was discovered in its very first stages of construc- 

 tion was completed in six days and an egg was laid daily until 

 a set of five was completed, when incubation commenced. Both 

 birds help to build the nest and aid in the incubation. Several 

 other nests observed here as well as others from elsewhere are 

 all composed of the green fresh blades of a species of sedge 

 which I have been unable to identify, the portions necessary 

 to determine the species being lacking. 



A typical nest composed entirely of this sedge is three inches 

 in height outside by two inches in depth internally. The 

 external diameter is four inches and the internal diameter two 

 inches. The set of five in my collection, taken at Marlin, 

 Texas, May 22, 1891, measure, 0.81 x 0.54,0.80 x 0.55, 0.82 

 X 0.52, 0.82 X 0.53, 0.82 x 0.54. The nest was pensile in 

 nature, fastened to the limb of a mesquite tree, thirty feet from 

 the ground. The eggs are usually five in number, ranging 

 from four to seven, and they are pale bluish white or grayish 

 white in ground color, scrawled and blotched, chiefly about the 

 larger end, with lines of brown, black, lavender, purple and 



gray. 



I have noted a rather sharp note of alarm as well as a series 

 of three or four querulous notes uttered by the birds in addition 



