SYLVI('OJ,II),E — TIIK \VAUl!l,i:i;s. 321 



lar cliiuit. A lew ])airs iniiy (K-casioiiuIIy lio loiiiid in tlic same iicinliboilioiMl. 

 At other times-; only a single pair can lie Inuiid in ([nite a, wide extent of ter- 

 iit(tiy (if similar eliaracter. They build their nests, as well as 1 eau Jnd-e, 

 aliDiit the lirst of dune, as the ymm- are hatched out and on the win,^- ahout 

 the last of tiiat month, or the lirst of duly. 1 have never found a nest, hut 

 I think they are built on the around. Tiiey are silent afti'r the first of July, 

 iind are rarely to be : .en after that i)erie.l." The son.i,' of this bird is a very 

 pleasing' one, thou^^h heard but seldom, and only in a few luealities in Alas- 

 sachusetts. 



Near Washington Dr. ('(uies found tla; ('anada Klyeateher only a spring 

 and autunmal visitant, at wiiieh .si'asons they were abundant. Tluy fre- 

 ([uented hioji open woods, and ke|)t mostly in the lower l>ranehes of the trees, 

 and also in the more open undergrowth of marshy jdaces. They arrive the 

 last w<'ek in Ai)ril and remain about two wetdvs, arriving in fall the lirst 

 week in Septendier, and rciuiaining nntil the last of that month. 



The lirst well-identilied nest of this bird that eame to my knowledge was 

 obtaiiied in Lynn, Mas.s., by Mr. Ceorge O. Weleli, in June, l.S,-.(i. U was 

 built in a tu.ssoek of gra.ss, in swanii)y woods, concealed by the surrounding 

 rank vegetation, in the midst of whicli it was placed. It was constructed 

 entirely of i)ine-needles and a few fragments of .leuayed leaves, grai)evine 

 bark, line stems, and rootlets. These were so loosely interwoven that the 

 nest could not be removed without great care to keep its several jwrtions 

 together. Its diameter was three and a half inches, ami if was very nearly 

 Mat. Its greatest depth, at Ihe centre of its depression, was hardly half an 

 inch. It contained four y<aing, and an nnhatched eug. 



Ant.fher nest found in June, I S(14, by the same ob.serving naturalist, was also 

 obtained in the neighborhood. This was built in a tns.sock of meadow-grass, 

 ill the midst of a small iioggy jiiece of swamp, in which were a few scat"tered 

 trees and bushes. The ground was so marsliy that it could be cro.ssed only 

 with dillicnlty, and by stepping from one tu.ssoek of ri'edy herbage to another. 

 In the c(!ntre of one of the.se bunches the nest was concealed. " It measures 

 si.x inches in its larger diameter, and has a height of two and a (,uarter 

 inches. The cavity of this nest is two and fjiree .p.arters inciies wi.le, 

 and one and three (piarters deej). It is very str<Migly consfriu'ted of pine- 

 needle.s, iiderwoven with line strips of Imrk.dry deciduous leaves, .stems of dry 

 gra.sses, .sedges, etc. The whole is lirndy and compactly interwoven with and 

 strengthened around the rim of the cavity by stnuig, wiry, and fibrous roots. 

 The nest is very carefully and elaborately lined wilii the' black tibrmis roots 

 "I some plant. The eggs, wjiich were five in number, measure .72 of an inch 

 in length by M in breadth. Their ground-cohn- is a clear and brilliant 

 white, and this is beautifully marked with dots and small blotches of blended 

 I'lown, purple, and vi.det, varying in shades and tints, and -rouped iu a 

 wreath around the larger end. 



41 



