390 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



Camp I saw a bird gathering material and by watching her 

 soon located the nest. The female alone carried material, the 

 male accompanying her to and from the nest, singing con- 

 stantly. A very short stop was made at the nest. Evidently 

 some material was accumulated before it was arranged. A 

 day or two after finding the nest I went to Shulee, so had no 

 opportunity to again visit the nest until the twenty-ninth, when 

 I left Shulee early in the morning, going to Two Rivers and 

 thence through the woods to the camp. At this date the 

 ground was mostly covered with snow in the woods, though it 

 was rapidly melting. I found the nest completed. The bird 

 refused to leave the nest until I was nearly within reach, and 

 she remained near, several times returning to the eggs for a 

 moment. The nest was placed well out toward the end of a 

 limb of a spruce tree, twenty-seven feet above the ground. It 

 was saddled on the limb and radiating twigs but not attached 

 to them. Considering the size of the bird, it is quite large, 

 rather flat and bears no resemblance to nests of Spinus tristis, 

 measuring as follows: height, 1.63 inches; depth, 0.75; out- 

 side top diameter 4 inches; inside top diameter 2 inches. It 

 is composed mainly of dark pendulous tree-moss, with some 

 fulvous bark from weed-stalks, plant-down, usnea, and other 

 mosses. About the bottom of the nest is woven a few spruce 

 twigs. The lining is entirely the pendulous moss. It con- 

 tained four eggs but slightly incubated. These have a pale 

 blue ground color, slightly darker than eggs of Spinus tristis, 

 somewhat sparingly marked about the larger end with pale 

 purplish and a few dots of brownish black. The eggs measure 

 respectively 0.66 x 0.50, 0.66 x 0.46, 0.63 x 0,49, 0.63 x 0.48 

 inches." This nest of Mr. MorrelPs was found in Nova Scotia. 

 Mr. J. C. Mead found a nest containing four young at North 

 Bridgton, Maine, April 24, 1878, so it seems very evident that 

 the eggs are sometimes laid the last of March or the first of 

 April. Fresh eggs have been found in New York, May 12, 

 May 25 and June 25, so it seems quite likely that in certain 



