210 
NESTS AND EGGS OF 
the feet flesh-colored. In the female, during the same season, the crown 
is generally brownish, the black and ash on the head wanting, and the 
yellow of the under parts pale and restricted. From its congeneric breth- 
ren this species differs in the absence of a clear ash upon the throat. 
Its length is about four and three-fourths inches, wing two and one-fifth, 
and tail two and three-tenths. 
The eggs of the Yellow-Throat range from four to six in number, 
the complement doubtless depending upon locality, and the peculiarity of 
the female. In Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Delaware 
never more than four have been found in a nest, and this has been the 
experience of others from even the most widely separated localities. In 
color the eggs are a beautiful crystalline-white, and are dotted and 
blotched around the larger extremity with reddish-brown and dark umber. 
Specimens are often found with curiously-shaped lines and dashes of re- 
markable fineness. Their size varies with latitude, the largest coming 
from Kansas, and the smallest from Georgia. The average measurement 
of several sets from four different localities is .64 by .53 inches. We in- 
cline to the opinion that but a single brood is annually raised, although 
there may be instances where more than one has been observed. In most 
cases, where the birds have been late in rearing their young, the hasty 
collector, and even recorder of facts, may conclude that he has a sure 
proof of his position. Careful watching, carried through a decade, has 
convinced us that in Philadelphia the species is single-brooded. Like 
most of our smaller birds, the nest of this species does not escape the 
visits of the Cowbird, who, taking advantage of the absence of its owners, 
embraces the opportunity of depositing two of her own eggs, which she 
trusts the female Yellow-Throat will adopt and rear as her own. 
