BIRDS OF INDIANA. 1067 



descend lower than "25 or 30 feet from the ground. I have shot 

 these birds when they were at a height of 90 feet, and appeared from 

 below not much larger than Humming-birds, but their creeper-like 

 habits render them easy of identification. The constant habit of 

 remaining at such heights, coupled with extreme restlessness, make 

 them one of the most difficult species to secure. 



"The song is quite loud and spirited, and can easily be heard and 

 distinguished at a distance of 300 or 400 yards. Some authors state 

 the song resembles that of the Indigo Bunting. By others it is likened 

 to that of the Black and White Warbler, or to the Pine Warbler's. 

 The fact is, according to my experience, the song is a very character- 

 istic one, and bears no resemblance to anything I have ever heard 

 the above mentioned birds utter. It may be expressed by the sylla- 

 bles, tee-o, tee-o, tow-tee, accented on the syllable tee, with a rising 

 inflection on the fina^ syllable. The song is repeated at intervals of 

 10 to 15 seconds, and kept up for an hour or more. They remain 

 but a few moments feeding or singing in the same tree, but are off 

 to another, and after making the rounds of several trees, will perhaps 

 be back in the first tree at the end of 15 or 20 minutes. My greatest 

 desire in regard to this interesting little bird has been to secure a 

 nest and its complement of eggs, but am sorry to say that, so far, 

 I have been unsuccessful. 



"I can therefore say but little of the nesting habits. For three or 

 four successive years, I searched long and diligently, examining the 

 tree tops, as well as I could from the ground, hoping to discover a 

 nest, and had come to the conclusion that I would never succeed. 

 Fortunately, on the 10th of May, 1880, I chanced to see one of these 

 birds alight on the trunk of a tree, with building materials in its 

 bill. In a few moments it flew to the top of a large sycamore, and 

 then near the end of a small horizontal branch, where at last I had 

 the pleasure of locating the long looked-for nest. I estimated the 

 height from the ground to be, somewhere between 60 and 75 feet, 

 and on the end of a branch 20 feet from the trunk. The branch 

 would not bear a weight of over fifty pounds, and with trunk of the 

 tree 7 feet in diameter at the base, the first limb being 40 feet from 

 the ground, I made up my mind that this nest was simply unattain- 

 able, except by extraordinary means. The next day I returned, and, 

 with the aid of a good field-glass, I discovered that the nest looked 

 as if nearly completed, and the birds were at work, apparent!)', putting 

 in the lining. It was placed in the fork made by two smaller branches 

 springing up from the branch on which the nest rested. I was unable 

 to determine the materials which composed the nest, which appeared 



