NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



463 



703. A Mockingbird's nest in Morgan County, Ohio. (From photo ) (See page 462 ) 



about the 20th of May. Mr. Shields informs me that in Los Angeles county, Cali- 

 fornia, where it is an abundant resident, nest-building is begun early in May, and 

 fresh eggs may be found as late as the last of June. He states that when deprived 

 of the first set of eggs, a second nest is invariably built and another set deposited. 

 The nest is composed of small twigs and weeds, lined with roots and sometimes 

 with horse hair and cotton. Various situations are selected for the nest; an almost 

 impenetrable thicket of brambles, a hedge, an orange tree or holly bush seem to be 

 favorite localities. Often the nest is built in a bush a few feet from a door or 

 window of a dwelling. Generally two or three broods are reared in a season. Mr. 

 J. A. Singley, of Giddings, Lee county, Texas, informs me that he finds the nests in 

 that locality built mostly in clumps of live oaks scattered over the prairies, also in 

 brush-piles, corners of rail fences, and in fact everywhere except on the ground. 

 He has found them as low as six inches from the ground in a low bush, and as high 



