BIRDS OF THE UNITED STATES. .3 
zontal branch of an oak, and held in position by two nearly vertical 
branches of the same tree. It was placed at a height of nearly twenty 
feet above the ground, and consists almost exclusively of fibres of the lono- 
greenish-yellow lichens which constitute so conspicuous a feature of the 
trees of that locality, in their sylvan retreats. Externally, besides a few 
fine rootlets, there is noticeable much white wrapping-string, which relieves, 
in a great degree, the monotony of the fabric. Internally, there is the 
same green moss-like lichen. The cavity is beautifully symmetrical, and 
measures about three inches in width, and nearly two inches in depth. 
The external diameter is five inches, and the height, two inches. The nest 
is most elaborately finished, and is evidently the workmanship of superior 
mechanics. The Plate represents it three-fourths the natural size, placed 
ujion an apple branch. 
Among other fabrics which the writer possesses, is one which w^as ob- 
tained in June, 1871, in Germantown, Pa., saddled upon the horizontal 
branch of an apple-tree. It is rather firmly and compactly built, and is com- 
posed, exteriorly, of stems of the common timothy, fine rootlets, dried leaves of 
the mullein, and green leaves of the apple, which are held together by broad 
strips of colored rags, bits of lint, and divers strings, the latter constituting 
a prominent feature. Interiorly, there is a promiscuous lining of flower- 
bearing stems, fragments of strings, fine roots of grasses, fibres of linen, and 
tendrils of some species of cucurbitaceous plant. The nest is about four 
and a half inches in external diameter, and nearly three in height. The 
cavity is three inches wide, and two and a half inches deep in the middle. 
This last model of architecture, as already remarked, was placed upon 
the limb of an apple-tree, near its extremity, and barely at a distance of 
fifteen paces from an occupied dwelling. The rags, etc., which form such 
a prominent feature of the outside, were purposely furnished by an inmate 
of the house. When first proffered, it was thought that the birds would be 
slow to perceive the use to which they could be put, but not so, for they 
entered into the idea with the most praiseworthy alacrity. And even after 
the materials were no longer supplied, they would repeatedly fly to the 
