322 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



upper tail coverts, both with obsolete dark streaks; there is a whitish maxillary 

 Btripe, bordered above and below bj* one of dark rufous-brown, with a similar one 

 from behind the eye; the under parts are white; the breast and sides of body and 

 throat streaked with dark-rufous, with a still darker central line; on the middle of 

 the breast, these marks are rather aggregated so as to form a spot; no distinct white 

 on tail or wings. 



Specimens vary somewhat in having the streaks across the breast more or less 

 sparse; the spot more or less distinct. In autumn, the colors are more blended, the 

 light maxillarj'- stripe tinged with yellowish, the edges of the dusky streaks suffused 

 with brownish-rufous. 



The young bird has the upper parts paler, the streaks more distinct, the lines on 

 the head scarcely appreciable. The under parts are yellowish ; the streaks narrower 

 and more sharply defined dark-brown. 



Length of male, six and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, two and fifty-eight 

 one-hundredths ; tail, three inches. 



Hab. — Eastern United States to the high central plains. 



This beautiful songster is one of the most common and 

 well-known of our summer visitors. It arrives from about 

 the first week in March to the middle of that month. On 

 its first appearance, it prefers the low thickets and bushy 

 woods, where, at all hours of the day, it chants its beautiful 

 song. It is somewhat gregarious at this time, and is 

 usually found in flocks of half a dozen individuals. It soon 

 commences mating ; and, after a short season of courtship, 

 both birds begin building their first nest. This is about the 

 middle of April, sometimes earlier ; and I have found the 

 nest with eggs when there was an inch or two of snow on 

 the ground. The nest is usually built on the ground, some- 

 times in a low bush, and occasionally in low trees : it is 

 constructed of stalks and leaves, of grasses and weeds, and 

 is lined with softer grasses and fine weeds. The eggs *are 

 four or five in number, and they are subject to great varia- 

 tions in form and markings : they exhibit all the changes 

 from grayish to bluish-white, with spots, thinly scattered, 

 of reddish-brown, to confluent blotches of umber-brown, 

 thickest at the greater end. Their dimensions vary from 

 .94 by .64 to .78 by .62 inch.* Four eggs in one nest 

 measure .94 by .64, .84 by M, .80 by .58, .78 by .62. 



