103 
SJRDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
tln-ee to tiz days, aod is dependent upon the number wl.ich is to consti 
nest and continues thereon, save when the male relieves her for « 
peiiod of eleven days, when she is rewarded for her patience and assiduitv 
_ y seeing and hearing a nest-full of callow fledglings. While the female’ 
Ints engaged, the male is busy among the branches of low bushed nd 
saphngs t„ search of small caterpillars and insects. Occasionally t Zt 
e seen upon the shrub which supports the nest, apparently on the alert 
&r tntrnders, w ich he signals by a low chirp: "shonhf the nest be 
lanimTation’lnt" "‘'‘"•artl signs of indignation or 
oar Wh ■" “ighborhood until the danger is 
past when they return to their home. If the nest is ravaged, they let to 
fate iVca t “-‘i"geneies of 
fate In case of a second desecration, they quietly forsake the place and 
mtwrbriir* r 
nest the female is vetT confllrandT 
• . ^ exercises no precautions to o’uaTvl 
gatnst ex,»s„re. as is the case with many of our sLll birds , 
g ves a strtktng proof of this fact. On one occasion he removed two ew 
she r^tM* Each ti.ne, on withdrawtl. 
returned thither, but practised no stratagems to lure him away. 
and Audub* “"d eggs of this species both Wilson 
Audubon are certainly at fault. They differ from more recent and 
lel able observations. The nest, as described by them, is never pensifo 
inside was lined with the down of a tZZZ 
was built^^^ Lynn, and described by Dr. Brevier 
was built upon a wild rose, only a few feet above the cround B 
compact and elaborately woven fabric ^ 
.y ei tdbnc, and was composed chiefly of soft 
