AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



137 



Photo by G. M. Hathorne. 



NEST AND EGGS OF BLACK THROATED BUNTING. 



on a nest of the Black-throated Bunting. It was built in a thistle that 

 stood some twenty odd feet from the brook and contained four eggs. 

 The female was nowhere in sight at the time, but the male sat upon an 

 old fence post some distance away, chanting his unmusical notes which 

 can best be expressed by "chink-chink-chee, chee, chee," the first two 

 notes rather slower and pitched somewhat lower than the following. 

 Although I have heard the notes of this Bunting a great many times, 

 every summer since 1895, I always stop and listen when I hear one 

 singing, for it recalls the happy days when I first met them. 



During the heated days of June and July when the sun beats directly 

 down upon the earth, the Bunting's ditty will be heard coming from all 

 directions, in a locality where they are abundant, and when all other 

 songsters are silent. Upon approaching the nest in question, the 

 female appeared and began to scold and flutter at my intrusion. Not 

 so her mate; he sat as calmly as ever and continued his serenading all 

 the time I was photographing the nest. 



From the first of May fresh eggs may be found, but they are more 

 abundant during the second and third weeks. The nest is composed of 

 coarse grass and sometimes roots and corn husks on the exterior, and 

 lined with finer grass, weeds, stems and hair. It may be found in a 

 variety of places, but is most always near the ground. The eggs, which 

 are blue-green in color, number from three to five a s acomplement, and 

 two broods are often raised in a season. 



