THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 179 



back and upper part of wings, rusty brown, with 

 broad black bands; sides of the breast, white, the upper 

 part reaching around on sides of neck, black; belly and 

 rump, white; tail, white, with black band at the end tip- 

 ped with white; wings, brown and black and edged with 

 white and with white bar. In winter there is less brown 

 in the plumage and the black feathers on the head, neck 

 and breast have white edges. 



The nest is a mere depression in the ground lined with 

 dead leaves. The eggs are four in number, very variable 

 in color, from a pale green to a cream, spotted with gray, 

 black and brown, and one and two-thirds by one and one- 

 sixth inches in size. 



The birds breed in the far north and spend the winter 

 in South America. They are numerous along the New 

 Jersey coast in May and again from August 1 to Septem- 

 ber 15. They are generally seen in small companies or 

 singly and never in large flocks. 



They feed on the spawn of the king-crab or horse-shoe 

 crab and also on insects and small shell-fish; they obtain 

 the latter frequently by turning over stones, using both 

 bill and breast for that purpose. 



Tyrant Fly catcher. See Kingbird. 



Veery. See Wilson's Thrush. 



, Blue-headed, or Solitary V*ireo. Length, 

 five and three-fifths inches; bill, one-fourth of an inch, 

 white eye-ring; top and sides of head, bluish gray, shading 

 gradually into olive green on the back; breast and belly, 

 white; sides, white, with greenish yellow tinge; tail, 

 dusky; wings, dusky, some of the long feathers edged 

 with white and with white tips on the smaller feathers, 

 forming two bars across the wing. The head of the fe- 

 male is not so bright. 



The nest is a pocket-like contrivance, hanging from the 

 forked branch of a tree, is composed of tendrils, plant 



