154 
NESTS AND EGGS OF 
from only in length, being half an inch less. The cavities offer less 
striking differences, varying slightly from one and a half inches in either 
direction. In composition the Western nest presents some points of differ- 
ence. The exterior is composed of yellowish-green and greenish-gray 
lichens, specifically distinct from Eastern specimens, a slight intersprinkling 
of brown catkins, feathers, cobwebs, and small bits of vegetable stems. 
The inside does not present much variation, but is lined with feathers, 
horse-hairs and vegetable wool, as many of our own are. When feathers 
are utilized for a lining, the quills are generally placed in the walls of 
the nest, only the soft plume-like parts being allowed to come into con- 
tact with the eggs. The nest from California was found by Prof. Ever- 
mann, in the vicinity of Santa Paula, during the summer of 1881. It 
is the prettiest, as well as the most elaborately perfected nest which we 
have yet seen. The one from which the drawing was made, while less 
artistic, deserves mention, from the peculiar position which it occupies, 
being wedged in between two diverging branches from a sweet-gum, and 
fastened thereto by cobwebs passing from its outside to the wing-like ex- 
pansions of the wood. 
Such finished and complicated structures are assuredly not the work 
of a few hours, but the labor of unwearied perseverance and industry upon 
the part of the builders for a week. No division of the work is allowed, 
hut each bird toils as suits its inclination. Whether the rearing of the 
fabric proper with its finely-felted walls, or the laying on of the tiles 
afterwards, requires the longer time to accomplish, it is difficult to say. 
Our experience teaches that the latter is the more trying and difficult 
task, and consumes one-third more time. It must not be presumed that 
the builders work steadily through the entire day. This is not the case. 
Rest, recreation, and the jirocurement of food, are matters that require 
attention, and prolong the labor. 
Having finished their home, the female is not slow in providing it 
with tenants. From four to six eggs are deposited in as many days, and 
incubation entered into. This lasts fourteen days, and is as much the 
