THE YELLOW-BIRD. 289 



remains through the year. Notwithstanding its being here 

 through the early spring, it does not begin to build before 

 the middle of June. The earliest nest that I ever heard of 

 was found June the 10th, and very few are found as early 

 as the middle of that month. The nest is usually placed in 

 a forked branch in an apple-tree in the orchard, sometimes 

 in a maple or birch tree near the roadside. It is constructed 

 of soft strips of the cedar and grape-vine bark: these are 

 very neatly woven together into a compact structure, which 

 is deeply hollowed, and lined with soft down from the 

 thistle, and sometimes a few feathers. The eggs are 

 usually four in number : their form is generally oval, 

 and their color a bluish-white. Dimensions vary from .68 

 by .53 inch to .62 by .50 inch. But one brood is reared in 

 the summer. 



The habits of this bird are so well known that I will not 

 give them an extended notice here. It seems to be a per- 

 sistently gregarious species : for, even in the breeding 

 season, several families are usually found in one neighbor- 

 hood ; and the males often assemble together, and pass the 

 time in collecting food, trimming their feathers, and bath- 

 ing. In fact, this bird seems to be more of a dandy, and 

 consequently less of a family man, than most of our other 

 species ; and I have noticed that he leaves the greater part 

 of the burden of the family cares upon the shoulders of his 

 attentive mate. 



When the season of incubation has passed, the birds 

 assemble in flocks of from ten to twenty or thirty in num- 

 ber, and frequent the gardens and stubble-fields, where they 

 subsist upon the seeds of various weeds and grasses. They 

 have a short note like che wee, which is uttered often, 

 sometimes in a drawling, plaintive key, and at other times 

 in a brisk, cheerful tone. Their flight is undulating and 

 irregular, and resembles very much that of the Wood- 

 peckers. When on the wing, they have a short, simple 

 chatter, like 'che 'che 'che 'che, uttered rapidly, and with 



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