32 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



son I felt that my quest was over and that I had found the nest 

 before seeing the bird. It took but a minute for me to 

 ' ' shinny ' ' up the slender trunk of the hemlock in order to 

 reach the nest. A moment of hesitation and expectancy and 

 then I leaned over and looked down through the delicate fronds 

 of hemlock into a nest containing four beautiful eggs. 



Like the other two, this nest was placed in a hemlock, upon 

 the lowest branch and within four feet of the trunk. Unlike 

 the nests found in previous years, it was placed in a hem- 

 lock well within the margin of the forest instead of in an isola- 

 ted tree. This nest was about fourteen feet from the ground, 

 only half as high as the lowest of the other two. The birds 

 did not show much concern over my intrusion and neither came 

 within twenty feet of me. The female was more demonstrative 

 than her brilliant mate, and kept up a continual chipping as 

 she flitted about in the neighboring trees. 



This nest is a handsome structure; it is deeply cupped, its inside 

 diameter being scarcely two inches. Its composition is similar to 

 that of the other two nests. Hemlock twigs form the basis for 

 the whole structure, and they are firmly interwoven with weed 

 stalks, strips of plant fiber, dry grass, a few rootlets, etc. The 

 exterior is decorated with catkins, plant down and spider webs. 

 The lining is very heavy and is made up of fine grasses and a 

 large number of fine black fern stalks. The eggs are four in 

 number and are very beautiful. They have a ground color of 

 white tinged faintly with green, and are heavily wreathed about 

 their larger ends with spots and bloches of rich brown, sienna, 

 and lilac. The shells are without gloss and very delicate in 

 4;exture. 



