OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 305 



his hold upon her affections, he parades himself backwards 

 and forwards before her presence, trailing his wings, ex- 

 panding his tail, and anon, elevating himself with a digni- 

 fied mien, uttering all the while his characteristic notes. 

 Assured of her pleasure, he abandons temporarily these 

 pompous actions, and as if to show his unbounded love 

 and willing submission, thrusts his bill into her mouth, and 

 regurgitates the contents of his crop, therein. These love- 

 scenes continue for at least a week, and are repeated as often 

 as a dozen times a day. At the expiration of this time, the 

 happy pair begin to think about the all-essential business of 

 wedded-life, the establishment of a family. With this idea in 

 view, they start off' together in quest of a suitable place for 

 building, For some reason or other, when the nest is arbor- 

 eal, some species of Pinus are usually chosen. Occasionally, 

 the nest is placed in a shallow depression in the ground, 

 alongside of an unfrequented path ; but generally in the 

 centre thereof. Such places when utilized, are chosen by 

 young birds, generally. There is an obvious advantage in 

 such selections. They save time and much physical labor. 

 Both birds labor in the construction of the nest, the male 

 sometimes fetching the materials, while the female puts 

 them in their proper places ; but, generally, each bird ad- 

 justs its own pieces. The time spent in its construction, 

 seldom exceeds a couple of days. The uncouthness of the 

 structure, and the lack of design which it manifests, should 

 not actually require so much time ; but then the birds inter- 

 mit their labor very often during the course of the day, 

 and always work with comparative slowness and ease. 



The nest is usually placed upon a wide horizontal branch, 

 with partially vertical branches on all sides ; or else between 

 a crotch produced by a smaller branch meeting a larger. 

 It is composed entirely of small dead pine twigs, which are 

 gathered from the ground below. These twigs are scarcely 

 more than one-fourth of an inch in diameter, and never ex- 

 ceed four inches in length. They are laid crosswise, with a 



