352 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



occasional individual remains until September tenth. As a 

 common species it is confined to the more southern sections of 

 the State, being a bird of the village elms and settled country 

 roadside trees, more seldom found in the drooping elms along 

 streams at some distance from civilization. It is a species 

 gradually extending its range northward with the progress of 

 civilization in Maine. Mr. Manly Hardy informs me that the 

 species was not observed near Bangor until about I860, though 

 known in the Kennebec Valley many years previously. It is 

 at the present writing known to occur at least north to Lincoln. 



The male bird is very noisy during the time from his arrival 

 until the nesting season is well advanced. He utters frequent 

 whistled songs and snatches. A common song is "why-oh-oh- 

 why" another "sweet-high-high-twet," still another "sheep-see- 

 yer-sheep-see-yer-tweet-sweet" also a harsh grating "witter- 

 witter-weet" or a "chee chee, chee." The vocabulary is quite 

 varied and the softer whistled and not harsh calls are uttered 

 in a sweet, whistled and rather mournful but still pleasing tone. 



The nests are usually placed at the ends of the long droop- 

 ing branches of the elms which line the village streets and 

 country highways, but occasionally nests are placed in maples, 

 locust, Cottonwood, poplar or othei hard wood trees and even 

 in apple and pear trees in orchards. The usual site selected 

 is an inaccessible one at the ends of the outermost branches. 

 Here the pensile nest is attached to several slender branches. 

 Many nests are composed entirely of horsehair, closely and 

 nicely interwoven, others contain much twine, soft silken plant 

 fibers, and even pieces of cloth and newspaper. Hair, tow, 

 waste, and various similar material is used to line the bottom 

 of the nest. 



A nest before me is four and a quarter exteriorly by four 

 interiorly in depth, and two and three quarters outside diameter 

 by two and a half inches inside. The five eggs this nest con- 

 tained measure 1.01 x 0.66, 1.00 x 0.65, 1.00 x 0.66, 0.99 x 

 0.66, 0.96 X 0.63. This was placed twenty feet up at the end 



