OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA, ,:, ' lOI 



chalybea, among coleoptera; SyrpJms obliquus, 

 Stomoxys calcitrant, Scatophaga furcata, Culex 

 t&niorhynchus and Tipula ferruginea, among dip- 

 tera; besides ants and aphides. As the season 

 advances, the larvae of Anisopteryx vernata, Eufit- 

 chia ribearia, Gortyna zece, Dryocampa rubicunda, 

 and mature forms of Spilosoma Virginica, Harri- 

 sina Americana, Lithosia miniata, Orgya leucos- 

 tigma, Penthina pomonella, ' and many of the 

 Tortricids and Tineids. Still later in the season, 

 seeds and berries in great quantities are eaten. 

 We have often observed this species subsisting 

 upon the ripened seeds of the various species of 

 Cirsium with Chrysomitris tristis. The berries 

 of ^miperus Virginiana constitute a racy viand. 



Nidification begins about the middle of June 

 and is the first labor of the sexes. They work 

 with commendable diligence until the completion 

 of their task. The nest is invariably suspended 

 from several twigs to which it is firmly attached. 

 It is neatly, tastefully, and skilfully constucted. A 

 variety of materials is utilized in nest-fabrication ; 

 though the same nest is quite homogeneous in the 

 elements ot the composition. In a fair sample 

 before us, this homogeneity is carried to an ex- 

 treme degree. The exterior is almost wholly a 

 mass of vegetable fibres, with a slight interlacing 

 of the flexible culms of grasses. A careful ex- 



o 



amination of these fibres, exhibits remarkable 

 structural uniformity, as if they had been plucked 

 from a single or several closely allied plant-species. 



