THE OOLOGIST. 



141 



the same matei'ials as others except it 

 was lined with horse hair. 



Set IV. While ramblicg in some 

 woods for nests, I saw Gnatcatehers fly- 

 ing to and from an upright fork of a 

 hickory. When I examined the fork 

 found that they had just cpmmenced a 

 nest. It being a good distance from 

 home, I did not pass the nest until two 

 weeks after. Then instead of a few 

 lichens and grasses, found a completed 

 nest with five fresh eggs. The old bird 

 was rather bold while I was taking the 

 nest, coming within a few feet of me 

 and fussing all the time. This nest had 

 thicker walls than any other I have tak- 

 en, measuring i to f of an inch thick. 

 The other dimensions wei'e 2i inches in 

 diameter and 3 inches in height. It 

 was made of brow^n lichens, tine wiry 

 grass, and a little moss, beautifully 

 adorned with lichens. 



H. Gould Welborn, 

 Lexington, N. C 



Notes on the Nesting of the Ash-tkroated 

 Flycatcher- 



The Ash-thi oated Flj'catcher, {Miar- 

 chus einfrascens) is very common in 

 this locality during May, June, July, 

 although its nests are easily found, as 

 the birds usually retire to the seclusion 

 of the woods and hill-sides to find a 

 nesting site. The birds arrive here 

 from winter quarters the last of April, 

 the first birds being seen about the 14th 

 and stay until the middle of August. 

 During the last of April and the first 

 week in May they may be seen every- 

 where busily catching flies and insects, 

 iiot seeming to mind the presence of 

 ttian in the least, although later in the 

 season they become very shy and wary. 

 About the 12th of May the birds begin 

 mating, at which time the males are 

 very pugnacious, often engaging in 

 tights for the possession of a female. 



After a site has been selected for the 

 nest, which is nsuallv in some old flick- 



ers or woodpeckers hole, the nest build- 

 ing commences. A thick layer of graiss 

 is usually put in first, although I have 

 found several nests that had no grass 

 at all in them. On top of the grass, the 

 birds put horse manure, rabbit fur, 

 cuw's hair and fine roots to a depth of 

 two or three inches, and then the lining 

 which is usually composed of short hair 

 or fur til ken trom the hide of some 

 dead cow or rabbitt. One nest found 

 was composed almost entirely of rab- 

 bit's fur. 



From four to seven eggs are laid, 

 usually five. They have a light buff 

 ground color, scratched and splashed 

 lengthwise, but most profuse on the 

 large end, with reddish-brown or chest- 

 nut, underlaid with faint lilac mark- 

 ings. When robbed of the first set they 

 will sometimes lay a second which usu- 

 ally contains four eggs. One pair from 

 whom I took a second set, I have reason 

 to believe laid a third, as the eggs, were 

 very much alike and the same charac- 

 teristics were noted in each case. 



Happening to pass a white oak, one 

 of the dead limbs of which I knew to be 

 hollow, I thought I would climb up and 

 take a look at it. I hardly expected to 

 find any nest in it, as it joined a hollow 

 stub and therefore had no bottom to it. 

 Hence I was agreeably surprised to find 

 the hollow in the branch choked up 

 with grass which I knew meant an Ash- 

 throated Flycatcher nest, although no 

 birds were visible. I cautiously ap- 

 proached the place several times in the 

 next few days but didn't see any bird, 

 so I concluded the nest was deserted, 

 but on chopping the hole bigger I was 

 rewarded with five eggs. This was 

 May 23, '95. June l8th I again climbed 

 the tree and found a set of four which i 

 left for two days to be sure of a full set. 

 I thought that was enough for one pair 

 of birds, but out of curiosity I again 

 climbed the nest July 12th. Result: 

 One set of four incubated about three- 

 fourths. On each occasion I was una- 



