BREEDING OF THE WAX WING IN AMERICA 469 



same nest in somewhat discrepant terms : " The nest from the 

 Yukon, obtained by Mr. Kennicott, (S. Coll. G, 326), is smaller, 

 and bears but little resemblance to the European. It is but 

 five inches in diameter, of irregular shape. In height and 

 cavity it nearly corresponds. In place of the lichens of the 

 European, this nest is made of fine grass-stems, strips of bark, 

 and a few feathers." Though the points here criticised be 

 really immaterial, in as far at least as the descriptions of the 

 nest are concerned, it would have been more satisfactory to 

 have had one good coherent account in this case, to which 

 unusual interest attaches. One of Mr. Wolley's nests, " obtained 

 in Finland, June 19, 1861 (S. I. 5, 327)," and generously pre- 

 sented to the Smithsonian Institution by Professor Newton, is 

 described by Dr. Brewer with evident care and particularity. 

 It contains five eggs, which is said to be the usual number, 

 though six were found in one instance. As described by Dr. 

 Brewer, the Smithsonian eggs measure each an inch in length 

 by 0.67 to 0.70 in breadth ; the ground-color varies from light 

 slate to yellowish stone-color, and is blotched and dotted with 

 markings of various shades and sizes, chiefly dark purple or 

 blackish, with others of a yellowish-brown, nearly all the spots 

 being shaded with the peculiar penumbra so conspicuous in the 

 eggs of the Common Cedar-bird. " The egg obtained by Ken- 

 nicott on the Yukon is smaller than the European specimen, 

 measuring .90 by .65 of an inch. Its ground is more of a 

 greenish-slate or stone-color, and the spots are of a dark-brown, 

 with a deep violet-shading" (Brewer, I. c.). 



To these original accounts of the breeding of the Bohemian 

 in America, I have to add, from my own observations, that 

 the bird undoubtedly nests in the United States. While in 

 the Kocky Mountains, at latitude 49, I secured a newly 

 fledged bird so young that there is no reasonable doubt that it 

 was bred in the vicinity. This specimen was shot in thick 

 coniferous woods, at an altitude of about 4,200 feet, on the 19th 

 of August, 1874. No migration had begun at the time, and 

 no other individuals were observed, as would most likely have 

 been the case had they been roving away from their summer 

 home. 



In general terms, it may be asserted that the nest and eggs 

 of the Bohemian only differ materially from those of the Caro- 

 lina Waxwing in size, and that the two birds have substantially 

 the same breeding habits. The special natural history of the 



