92 
NESrS AND EGGS OF 
which consisted chietiy of white birches and evergreens. The nest was 
securely fastened to the twigs of a sj>reading hemlock-bough, was globular 
in shape, and placed about four feet above the ground. The outside was 
composed of hanging moss and bits of dead leaves; the inside was chiefly 
lined with feathers. There can be no doubt as to the authenticity of this 
nest, as Mr. Minot observed the j^arents in the act of carrying food to 
their young, and was enabled to track them to their homes. 
But the structure from which the drawing was made — found near 
Bangor, Maine — was presented to Mr. Harry Merrill, in the snmmer of 
1876. It was placed about six feet from the ground in a mass of thick 
gi’owth so j^ecnliar to many of onr flr trees, and is chiefly composed of 
moss on the outside, with a few small fragments of chips, and is lined 
with hair and feathers, the latter principally. The external diameter is 
four and a half inches, and depth outside nearly three inches. The open- 
ing is at the top, and measures about one and three-fourths inches across, 
and two in depth. Although the birds that built this nest were not seen 
by Mr. Merrill, yet by the j^i’etty sure evidence of exclnsion, they cannot 
belong to any other sj^ecies than the one under consideration. 
Of their habits while with young, our knowledge is small. It is evi- 
dent, however, from what Mr. Minot says, that both parents supjDly their 
nestlings with food. Incubation is doubtless j^erformed by them both, the 
female assuming the hulk of the labor. Unlike many species, these birds 
do not pass the breeding-season in silence, but keep up, with occasional 
intermissions, an animated twittering. 
The eggs possibly range from six to ten in number. To the eye 
they appear of a cream-white color, apj^arently covered with minute spots. 
Under the microscope, the ground-color is wdiite, with shell marks of 
purplish-slate, and a few obscure S230ts of a deep buff, rather superficial, 
to which their dirty tinge is probably due. The largest egg measures .52 
of an inch in length, and .40 in width ; the smallest, .47 by .30 inches. 
The average dimensions of the ten eggs are .50 by .41 inches. 
