IOWA ORNITHOLOGIST. 



45 



top of a high tree;" "in burr-oak 

 tree twenty feet from the ground;" 

 "ten to fifteen feet up." "The 

 nest," says Mr. Peck, "is a beau- 

 tiful structure. It is covered 

 with Hchens much Hke a Blue- 

 gray Gnatcatcher's, and is very 

 hard to find. 



Mr. Anderson mentions a nest 

 composed of dry grass, cottony 

 substances, thin pieces of bark 

 and moss, and almost covered 

 with bits of newspaper in two 

 languages; which latter item 

 leads the analytical mind of our 

 correspondent to inquire whether 

 the bird may not possibly be a 

 linguist. The nest was lined 

 with reddish strips of grape-vine 

 bark. This nest was located in 

 the same tree as those of a Robin 

 and Mourning Dove, and contain- 

 ed four eggs of the Vireo and one 

 of the Cowbird. 



A nest reported by Mr. D. L. 

 Savage was outwardly composed 

 of spiders' webs and fibers ' of 

 of wild grape-vine bark, then a 

 coating of newspaper and alining 

 of fine grass. 



The Yellow-throated is "a 

 large, stout species," robust built, 

 and "the brightest colored of our 

 Vireos." 



While the song is described as 

 being "slow, almost slovenly," 

 and "with a peculiar languid 



drawl," and lacking the animated 

 delivery of olivaceus and gilvus, 

 yet it is much admired by Mr. 

 Heaton, and the bird is consider- 

 ed a fine songster by Mr. Gid- 

 dings. 



The female is a close sitter, 

 leaving the nest reluctantly and 

 and even in some cases requiring 

 to be displaced by the hand. It 

 is not averse to making its home 

 near the abode of man. Mr. 

 Wm. Savage reports one pair, 

 who, when robbed of their treas- 

 ures, presumably by the Blue 

 Jays, tore the old nest to pieces 

 and rebuilt in a tree only six feet 

 from the door of his office and 

 fifteen feet up. He finds one 

 pair every year breeding in a 

 grove of about two acres near the 

 house. He notes, though, that 

 even so close a proximity to the 

 dwelling of man does not free the 

 species from the "piratical tyr- 

 rany of the Kingbird." 



Mr. Woods finds "four rosy 

 eggs" to be the usual comple- 

 ment, and that they average 

 larger than those of the Red-eye 

 and Warbling. Mr. Smith re- 

 ports a set which average 80x59, 

 82x60, 80x60 and 82x59. 



One case is reported where the 

 bird left the nest which was found 

 before the eggs were laid, al- 

 though it was not in any way 



