OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 100 



ticularly the Diurnals, arc objects of its unprovoked vengeance, 



When one of these inoffensive creatures is encountered, it 

 is attacked with great fury, and compelled to beat an inglo- 

 rious retreat. Should it return, it is again assaulted, by its 

 infuriated enemy. Nor arc these Hawk-Moths the sole ob- 

 jects of its unmerited assaults. It often attacks birds much 

 larger and more powerful than itself, which are compelled 

 to give way before its rapid advances. Even man himself 

 is not entitled to the respect which his position deserves. 



Mating commences during the latter part of May, but it 

 is not before the first week of June that building operations 

 arc commenced. The. nest is the result of the joint labor 

 of both birds, who work with unwearied patience aifd assidu- 

 ity, until the domicile is completed. The situations chosen 

 for nest-building, vary considerably. Sometimes a high, 

 open woods is selected ; at other times, a low. dense woods : 

 but more frequently an orchard in close proximity to a hu- 

 man dwelling. A rather singular place has been noticed by us 

 during the past three years ; viz. : a small horizontal branch 

 of the common red maple, within reaching distance, along 

 : road where travel is quite common. This place has been 

 selected for several \ ears, apparently by the same pair or 

 their offspring, as the uest is invariably found in the same 

 tree, and always on the identical branch. 



The nests are occasionally saddled upon the moss-covered 

 branches of an apple or pear-tree, but more frequently upon 

 the various species of .Q/fcrc//s* particularly rubra and alba . 

 They are mainly composed of a wooly substance of vegeta- 

 ble origin, plucked from the leaves of \ 'crbascHin thapstts. 

 It is doubtful that the soft down which appears upon 

 the unexpandcd leaves of the poplar, is always utili/ed 

 since the leaves are already developed, in most cases, when 

 niditication commences. The. exterior of the nest is com- 

 pactlv covered bv a thatching of bluish-colored lichens. 

 probably a Parmelia^ which are glued thereon bv the viscid 

 saliva of the builders. The small woody fibres which havr 

 11 



