composition, would have been exceedingly conspicuous.'* Often the nest is placed beside a log, among the 

 roots of a tree, or at the foot of a sapling, usually in the deepest, dampest woods, along streams, about 

 the border of ponds, and in similar places. 



POSITION : 



It is generally placed in a little depression on the ground, but sometimes, as when among the roots 

 of an overturned tree, it is several feet high. 



MATERIALS: 



The materials of construction are leaves, grasses, weed-stems, and similar coarse vegetable materials 

 for the foundation and superstructure, and fine fibrous roots for a lining. The nest referred to above, 

 taken by Mr. Win. Brewster, is described as follows: "The nest which is before me, is exceedingly large 

 and bulky, measuring externally 3.50 inches in diameter by 8 inches in length, and 3.50 inches in depth. 

 Its outer wall, a solid mass of soggy dead leaves, plastered tightly together by the mud adhering to 

 their surfaces, rises in the form of a rounded parapet, the outer edge of which was nicely graduated to 

 conform to the edge of the earthy bank in which it was placed. In one corner of this mass, and well 

 back, is the nest proper, a neatly rounded, cup-shaped hollow, measuring 2.50 inches in depth. The inner 

 nest is composed of small twigs and green mosses, with a lining of dry grasses and a few hairs of squirrels 

 or other animals arranged circularly." 



EGGS: 



The complement of eggs is four or five, usually the former number. They are white, blotched, 

 spotted, and speckled with faint reddish-brown; deep shell-marks appearing blue-gray. The commonest 

 type of these eggs is blotched, spotted, and speckled with faint reddish-brown chiefly about the basal 

 third of the shell ; the remaining two-thirds being sparingly spotted and speckled. Another pattern 

 has a well defined wreath about the crown composed of confluent blotches, spots, and speckles of a darker 

 shade of the same brown, while the remainder of the egg is blotched or speckled here and there with a 

 much lighter shade. A third egg is irregularly marked from point to base with bold blotches, spots, and 

 speckles. In long-diameter they measure from .69 to .79, and in short-diameter from .58 to .62; a com- 

 mon size is about .75 x .60. 



DIFFERENTIAL POINTS : 

 See table. 



REMARKS : 



Plate LXVIII, Fig. 4, represents three eggs of the Large-billed Water Thrush. They were selected 

 from the specimens in National Museum, and are believed to represent the common variations which 

 occur, the middle egg being the pattern most frequently seen. 



I have never seen the Large-billed Water Thrush except in the spring, and therefore have been 

 compelled to compile this article from the writings of those who have been more fortunate. 



296 



