sides ; when in undergrowth, it is either upon the ground or a few inches above it, surrounded by inter- 

 lacing stems. 



MATERIALS : 



The materials used in construction are as varied as the localities. Three nests, representing the usual 

 materials employed in the woods, in the farm-yard, and in the city, are composed as follows: No. 1. Built 

 in a brush-pile in the woods : foundation and superstructure, line fibrous roots and blades of grass, dried 

 leaves, grapevine-bark, moss, a few sticks, and weed-stems; lining, fine vegetable material and horse- 

 hairs; diameter of the entrance to the qavity, one and seven-eighths inches; depth, four inches; diame- 

 ter within, three inches. No. 2. Built in the feed-trough of an unoccupied stable-stall: foundation and 

 superstructure, dried oak and hickory leaves, some perfectly skeletonized, red clover, grasses, bits of moss, 

 rootlets, feathers from, the poultry-yard, and pieces of cast-off snake-skin about the rim ; lining, red and 

 white cow-hairs, horse-hairs, feathers, and scraps of snake-skin ; diameter of the entrance of the cav- 

 ity, one and three-fourths inches ; diameter within, nearly three inches. No. 3. In a paper-collar box 

 nailed against the supporting column of a portico in this city: foundation and superstructure, dried 

 leaves, rootlets, strings, hempen fibres, weed-stems, blades of grass, fine vegetable material decomposed 

 beyond recognition, and small pieces of mosquito-bar; lining, fine blades of grass, rootlets, and soft pa- 

 per; diameter of the entrance to the cavity, one and one-half inches, increasing to three inches within; 

 depth, three and three-fourths inches. 



The nest is exceedingly variable in external dimensions. At one time it may fill a peck measure; 

 at another, it may be contained in a quart cup. The shape, being greatly dependent upon position, is 

 no more constant than the size. The passage to the interior may be a mere opening above or at the 

 side, or it may be even a circuitous channel with the opening from below. But whatever the measure- 

 ments of the exterior, or wherever the door-way, the spherical cavity within is quite uniform. 



EGGS: 



The complement of eggs is generally six, but as many as nine or as few as three may constitute 

 a set. The ground-color of the shell is pure white ; the markings consist of blotches, spots, and minute 

 dots of reddish-brown ; they are distributed over the whole egg, but thickest about the base, sometimes 

 forming a wreath. The deep shell-markings are obscure-purplish, the shade of Avhich is determined by 

 their dejith beneath the sui'face. Some eggs are marked only by a few large blotches of bright reddish- 

 brown about the crown; others are spotted finely and closely over the entire shell, but are not so dark 

 as those of the House Wren ; again, others are marked with irregular little lines and fine specks, the 

 lines resemble very much the threads in bank-note paper, but are not so long. The average size of 

 thirty eggs, from six sets, is .73 x .59 ; the largest, .76x.60; the smallest, .69 x .57. 



DIFFERENTIAL POINTS : 



There are a number of other species which lay eggs so similar in size and markings to the Caro- 

 lina Wren's, that it is impossible to give points of difference which will always be correct. By referring 

 to the tables at the last of the work, some information will be found Avhich may aid in identifying un- 

 known or doubtful specimens. The nest and eggs together are characteristic. The nest alone resembles 

 the House Wren's, the cavity however averages larger. 



REMARKS : 



The nest from which the drawing was made was found on the 19th of May, 1879; it contained six 

 eggs nearly hatched. It was built in a box nailed against the inside of an old barn, and used only a 



62 



