364 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



one on each consecutive day until the 14th, when the set of four was taken. 

 The nests I have seen were placed close to the trunks of small firs, usually in 

 verv dense second-growth thickets, not over 25 feet from the ground." 



Mud forms an important item in all the nests I have examined. They vary 

 from 5 to 60 feet in height from the ground. A nest of this species now before 

 me was saddled on a small limb of a leaning fir, 10 feet from the ground and 30 

 feet from the bottom of a bank. Outwardly it is composed of small twigs, moss, 

 and dry grass, the whole well cemented with mud up to the rim of the nest; 

 it is lined with a thick layer of fine roots; outer diameter, 9 inches by 6 inches 

 deep; the inner cup of the nest is 4 \ inches in diameter by 2 \ deep. It was 

 taken by Messrs. Cooke and Warner, near Salem, Oregon, April 26, 1891, and 

 contained four fresh eggs. The female was on the nest, while the male kept out 

 of sight, a short distance away, until the former left the nest, when he appeared 

 and kept up a constant chatter until shot. The female was also taken; both 

 parents were forwarded with the nest and eggs, and are now in the United 

 States National Museum collection. The nest was well concealed from view 

 from the top of the bank, but easily seen from an old road running along the 

 foot of the bluff. Full sets of eggs may usually be looked for during the latter 

 part of April and the first two weeks in May. 



Incubation, in which the male assists to some extent, lasts about sixteen 

 days, and I believe usually only one brood is raised in a season. The young 

 follow the parents for some time, and are cared for several weeks after leaving 

 the nest. The number of eggs to a set varies from three to five; sets of four 

 are most often found. They are a dull, pale bluish-green in ground color, and 

 are spotted and blotched over their entire surface with irregularly shaped mark- " 

 ings of different shades of brown and lavender, which are usually most numerous 

 about the larger end of the egg. In shape they vary from ovate to elongate 

 ovate. The shell is finely granulated and strong, with little or no gloss. 



The average measurement of ten eggs is 31.50 by 23.37 millimetres, or 

 about 1.24 by 0.92 inches. The largest egg measures 34.04 by 23.62 milli- 

 metres, or 1.34 by 0.93 inches; the smallest, 29.46 by 22.61 millimetres, or 1.16 

 by 0.89 inches. 



The type specimen, No. 24388 (PI. 5, Fig. 9), from a set of four eggs, taken 

 by Messrs. Cooke and Warner, near Salem, Oregon, on April 26, 1891, repre- 

 sents a typical egg of this species. 



