I 

 OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 71) 



.McTavish discovered its nest at Lake Manitobah, and Air. 

 Ross at Fort Simpson. 



In nest-building, this species has been undergoing consid- 

 erable modification, consequent upon the habit of association 

 with man. Nests built on the margins of woods, or in remote 

 orchards, according to Dr. Brewer, are wrought out of hemp- 

 en fibres, feathers, fragments of insect-cocoons, fine strips of 

 the bark of deciduous trees, and other materials, closely felt- 

 ed and impacted ; within, is a lining of woody fibres, 

 strips of vegetable bark, fine lichens, and soft feathers, which 

 are occasionally varied by an exclusive lining of pine needles, 

 or the pappus of compositaceous plants. These structures 

 are never large, and measure about three inches in diameter, 

 and two in height. Those which are constructed in close 

 proximity to human habitations, are composed of a miscel- 

 laneous collection of materials which are gathered according 

 to convenience, such as rags, cotton, fragments of paper, 

 and, mainlv, the feathers of chickens. When the birds are 

 furnished with an ample supply of raw cotton, Dr. Brewer 

 has known the nest to be constituted, exteriorly, of thism a- 

 terial, excepting a few binding materials in the shape of 

 woody fibres and straws. In such cases, the interior is lined 

 with feathers. 



Another nest, which was found in Wisconsin, built in a 

 dense tamarack swamp, is composed, exteriorly, of a thick 

 compact mass of a dingy white vegetable wool, which is 

 variously interlaced at the basal part with strips of bark, 

 vegetable stems, and black rootlets. The inner margin and 

 frame-work are composed of black, shining rootlets, with 

 an intermixture of narrow stems and the dried culms of 

 sedges. The interior is lined with pappus of a composita- 

 ceous plant, and a modicum of feathers. The eggs are 

 round-oval in contour, and equally blunted at each extremity. 

 They are pure white in color, never spotted, and measure 

 .60 by .^o of an inch. 



