144 
N£STS AND EGGS OF 
According to Dr. Cones, their size and intensity of color bear, in general, 
a direct correspondence with the depth of the background. In Massachu- 
setts these eggs exhibit remarkable variation, passing from 1.45 to 1.80 
inches in length, and from 1.15 to 1.25 in width. Out of a collection of 
a dozen specimens. Dr. Coues found the shortest and broadest egg to 
measure 1.40 by 1.20, and the longest, narrowest one, 1.55 by 1.15 inches. 
A set of three before us, from Pennsylvania, has an average measurement 
of 1.54 by 1.21 inches. In the Middle States, and the same is doubtless 
true of other sections of our great country, there is never more than a 
single brood raised, although the early breeding of the species would cer- 
certainly give ample time for a second hatching before the close of the 
season. The drawing shows not merely the eggs in situ, although consid- 
erably reduced, but at the same time gives a beautiful and accurate figure 
of a typical specimen, alone and isolated. The female is represented as 
standing in the vicinity of the nest, while her partner occupies a sitting 
posture in the foreground of the jjicture. The total length of this sj^ecies, 
from tip of bill to extremity of tail, is eleven inches. The wing has a 
stretch of two and a quarter inches. So well have the birds been por- 
trayed by the artist, that we shall not attempt a description. 
