178 



OEOTTHOLOGIST 



[Yol. 12-:N'o. 11 



Set XI. June 16, 1885. Four eg^s. Light 

 creamy white, heavily maiiied near the larger 

 ends with reddish brown. Two of the eggs also 

 have a little lilac on them: .66x.49; .66x.50; 

 .65X.49; .G6x.48. 



Set XII. June IS, 1885. Four eggs. White, 

 marked with lilac and light and dark brown. 

 The markings form wreaths around the lai-ger 

 ends. In one of the eggs, however, faint specks 

 of lilac are diffused all over it, and the brown- 

 ish red markings are entirely wanting: .69 x 

 .49; .69X.49; .72x.49; .70x.50. 



Set XIII. June 13, 1885. Four eggs. Creamj^ 

 white,heavily spotted near the greater ends with 

 reddish brown and lilac : 59 x .45 ; .58 x .43 ; 

 .58X.44; .61 x .46. 



Set XIV. June 13, 1885. Four eggs. White, 

 quite heavily spotted with lilac and reddish, 

 which form indistinct wreaths around the 

 greater ends : .67 x.57 ; .67 x.57 ; .67x.57 ; .69 x.58. 



Set XV. June 17, 1885. Four eggs. Creamy 

 white, heavily spotted with bright reddish 

 brown and lilac. The markings form a wreath 

 near the lai-ger ends, and the rest of the eggs 

 are entirely unspotted: .64x.47; .64x.47; .69 

 X.49; .64X.48. 



Set XVI. June 15, 1885. Four eggs. White, 

 marked with lilac and reddish brown. The 

 spots form a wreath near the centre of tliree of 

 the eggs: .66x.51; .68x.,52; .66x .52; .68x.51. 

 These bear a remarkable resemblance to a set 

 of Dendrceca blacMmrnue collected by my friend 

 Frederic H. Carpenter on June 7, 1883, in Ox- 

 ford County, Maine, and generously presented 

 to me by him. Mr. Carpenter shot the parent 

 bird, so there can be no question about the 

 identification. And here it may be remarked 

 that when Mr. Robert Ridgway, in his new 

 Manual of North American Birds, describes the 

 eggs of Dendrceca Uackhurnioi as of a "greenish 

 white or very pale bluish green," it is to be 

 presumed that he does so from the set of eggs 

 now in the collection of the National Museum 

 labelled as belonging to that species, and which 

 agree with his description. Mr. Carpenter's 

 experience with the eggs of D. Uackhurnioi 

 has been very different. He has found several 

 sets, which were all perfectly identified, and all 

 of them had the ground color white, with no 

 trace of greenish. 



Set XVII. June 17, 1887. Four eggs. Creamy 

 white, spotted and blotched with reddish brown 

 and lilac. The markings are dispersed all over 

 the eggs, but are heavier and closer together 

 near the greater ends : .66 x .48 ; .65 x .47 ; .66 x 

 .48; .66X.48. 

 Set XVIII. June IS, 1885. Four eggs. Glos- 



sy white, speckled, spotted and blotched with 

 two shades of reddish brown and lilac. The 

 heaviest markings are at the greater end, where 

 they form an indistinct wreath : .62 x .49 ; .63 x 

 .51; .64 x.49; .63x.51. 



Set XIX. June 19, 1885. Four eggs. Creamy 

 white heavily wreathed near the larger ends 

 with bright reddish brown and lilac: .65x.50; 

 .63X.50; .64X.48; .67x.47. 



Set XX. June 16, 1885. Four eggs. Creamy 

 white, heavily marked with bright reddish 

 bi'own and lilac. The markings form a wreath 

 near the larger ends, but there ai-e also a few 

 specks over the remainder of the eggs : .63 x 

 .48; .64 x.49; .63 x.49; .62 x .48. 



Set XXI. June IS, 1887. Four eggs. Creamy 

 white, heavily blotched and spotted at the 

 greater ends with lilac and brilliant reddish 

 brown: .67x.,50; .65x.50; .68x..50; .67 x .50. 

 Set XXII. June 20, 1885. Four eggs. Creamy 

 white, heavily spotted and blotched, especially 

 at the greater ends, with lilac and reddish brown : 

 .04X.48; .61X.46; .64x48; .62x.46. 



Set XXIII. June 17, 1887. Four eggs. White 

 but the ground color is almost wholly obscured 

 by lilac and faint reddish brown markings? 

 giving them a somewhat pinkish appearance at 

 a little distance. None of the markings are 

 distinct: .64x.46; .64x.46; .66 x .45; .64 x .46. 

 Very pointed eggs for this species. 



Set XXIV. June, 1885. Four eggs. White, 

 but so obscured with reddisli brown and lilac 

 markings as to be hardly visible. Near the 

 larger ends there is a wreath of dai-ker red. 

 The most remarkable set in the series : .60 x .46 ; 

 .62X.47; .61x.47; .64x.4S. 



The twenty-four nests belonging to the above 

 sets are before me, and they exhibit a remarka- 

 ble similaritj'^ in the materials of which they 

 are constructed. They are made almost entire- 

 ly of spruce needles. This gives them a red- 

 dish appearance, which contrasts with the 

 black horse hair with which most of them are 

 lined, and which presents an admirable ba(!k- 

 ground for the beautiful little eggs. 



A few of the nests have no horse hair lining, 

 and in none of them has any colored hair been 

 used but black. No trace of feathers appear in 

 any of them. The average diameter outside is 

 3.10 inches, while the average inside diameter 

 is 2.00 inches. The average depth outside is 

 1.20, and the average depth inside is .60. It 

 will be noticed therefore that the nest is quite 

 shallow, and it is loosely put together. The 

 almost invariable situation appears to be in a 

 small spruce tree, at a height of from two to 

 five feet from the ground. 



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