538 HISTORY OF THE 



olive greenish. Adult female: Similar to the duller colored males, but yellow 

 appreciably less pure, the top of the head always olive greenish, and gray of 

 wings and tail less bluish; size somewhat less. Nestling: Head, neck, chest, 

 fore part of sides, and back, olive, lighter on lower parts; no yellow beneath, 

 except after moult has commenced; otherwise much like adult female. (Ridy- 

 way.) 



Stretch of 

 Length. -wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 5.50 9.00 2.90 2.15 .72 .55 



Female 5.30 8.60 2.75 1.95 .72 .55 



Iris and bill black; legs, feet and claws dark blue. 



This active species inhabits the willows bordering streams, 

 ponds and swampy, timbered lands. The males arrive about a 

 week in advance of the females, and, upon the arrival of the 

 latter, love making commences in earnest, each male showing 

 off to the best advantage, and bravely fighting for his choice. 

 The female, apparently indifferent to their rivalry, gladly accepts 

 the conqueror, and is his devotedly thereafter. They soon se- 

 lect a locality that suits, and commence hunting for a nesting 

 place; a Woodpecker hole or natural cavity in a willow over- 

 hanging or near the water. 



Their call note, often heard, is a sharp "Chip," and their or- 

 dinary song loud but not musical; sounds much like the "Peet- 

 weet, tweet, weet" of the Solitary Sandpiper; but I have often 

 heard them sing near the nest, when the mate was sitting, in a 

 low, soft and rather sweet warbling manner. They search for 

 their food in low, wet thickets, and on drift wood and partly- 

 submerged logs. It consists chiefly of the small forms of 

 aquatic life; spiders and beetles are also favorites. 



My brother was the first to discover and report that they nest 

 in holes in trees. Soon after, we found a pair nesting in a brace 

 hole in our saw mill, and it gave us an excellent opportunity to 

 observe their habits, as they soon learned that they had nothing to 

 fear from us (they are not naturally wild or timid birds). Sev- 

 eral years afterward I found a nest in the mill; it was built in 

 an old tin cup, sitting on a beam close beneath the roof. Their 

 natural nesting places are in holes in willow trees and stubs, and 

 never far from the ground. 



Their nests are composed of moss, grasses, dry leaves, lichens, 



