430 NORTH A.MERICAX lilltDS. 



tTflurcU'd by the presoiicn ol' tliosi' t'nrini(liil>l(' insects, tlinuiili u]inn wliat tonns 

 of iuiiity tliis di^l'eiisivi' alliiinco is kept dues not iipiieur. 



These (.'reepers iiicubiite durini; the iiioiitlis of .May, .lune, and .Iidy. On 

 the 4th of May, ^Ir. (ioss(! ohseived one witii a liit of " silk-eotlon " in hiT 

 beaic, and foiuid the skeleton of the nest just eomnienced in a biisli of the Lan- 

 tana crniuird. It was evidently to be of dome shape, and so far had lieen con- 

 stnieted entirely of silk-eotton. The completed nests are juade in the form 

 of a ,t;lolie, witli a small opening below tlie side. The walls are very thick, 

 comixised of dry grasses intermixed irregularly with the down of ascle|iias. 

 One of these nests was fi.xcd between the twigs of a branch of a J'xtithiniK 

 jirojecting over a highway. Another, found tov ards the end of -June, was 

 built in a bush of Lmi/tuia, and of the same stnicturc. It contained two 

 eggs, greenish-white, thickly but indetinitely dashed with reddish at the 

 brger end. ]\Ir. Closse quotes a Mr. Itobinson as giving their dimensions at 

 .44 liy .."il of an inch, while his own specimens are nnieh larger tiian this, 

 measuring .(l.'j liy nearly .."iO. Two eggs of C. jlaviald, from Jamaica, in my 

 cabinet, nu;asure, .(18 ))y .7>\ and .(18 by .411 of an inch. In one tlie ground 

 is a dull white, so generally and thickly covered with ndnute but coidluent 

 dots of reddish-brown as to impart a ]iinkisii tinge to the whole egg. In the 

 other the ground is a dull white, sjiaringly marked with blotches of brown 

 over about three fourths of its surface, but at the larger end covered with a 

 crown of larger and confluent blotches of subdued purjile and dark undier, 

 intermingled w ith a few lines of a darker hue, almost lilack. 



Two eggs ol' C. iKirfiijii, from St Croi.K, arc of a more rounded-oval shajpc, 

 and measure .Hi) by .4") and .(I'l liy .44 of an inch. They have a dull white 

 ground, lait tiiis is so uniforndy and generally covered witii conlhu'nt ivA- 

 disii-lirown markings as to be nowhere very distinct. 



The St. Croi.x sjiecies is called the Sugar-iiird in that i.shuid, from its habit 

 of entering the iMiring-iiou.>^ s, through the barred windows, jiroliably attracted 

 thither by the swarms of Hies, it is a very familiar sjiecies, haunting gar- 

 dens, and ottcn entering houses, ami never jnanifcstiug any alarm. It kce]is 

 in pairs, and breeds from .March bi August. Mr. .N'ewton states that it liuilds 

 a domed and often pensile nest, with a small porch, or pent-house roof, over 

 the entrance, generally at the extremity of a leafy bongli. The nest is gen- 

 erally \i'rv untidy on llu^ outside, and is composed of coarsi; grass and cot- 

 ton, with feathers (m the inside. It deposits its eggs lieforc tiie co-niiletion 

 of the nest, "rather to the di.scomtitm'e of the oologist, who delays inserting 

 his finger intn the structure while he sees one or lioth of the bird'i busy with 

 a tnl't of grass or cotton in their iiills, until at last he finds their eggs already 

 hatched." Air. Newton observi'd one instance in Mhi( h ^wo broods wei'c 

 reared in the same nest, with only an interval of ten days between the time 

 the young left it and the laying of an egg. 



