248 
NESTS AND EGGS OF 
The eggs of this species, when fresh, are white, with a slight roseate 
tinge. In blown specimens they show a faint bluish hue. Their nearest 
counterparts are Lawrence’s Goldfinch, from which they are scarcely dis- 
tinguishable. They are usually four in number, although five sometimes 
occur, and in shape are oval. Their dimensions vary even in the same 
nest-full. Specimens from New England vary from .68 by .53 to .63 by 
50 inches. Others from California measure .60 by 50. Pennsylvania eggs 
have an average measurement of .66 by .53. Considerable diversity of 
opinion exists as to the number of broods annually raised. Nuttall alleges 
that they raise two, but seems to base his assertion upon the fact that 
nests are found from the first of July to the middle of September, which 
in our estimation is wholly accounted for by explanations given above. 
The mass of writers, however, differ from him, and believe the species to 
raise but a single brood annually. In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, we 
can safely say that not a single case has occurred to us of double-brood- 
edness. It may be thought strange that these birds should, as a rule, be 
so dilatory in their movements, so far as the assumption of matrimonial 
relations is concerned, being even behind the generality of our Warblers, 
which are not so well-adapted to the climate as they An explanation of 
the matter has been attempted by Dr. Brewer. He seems to think that 
the cause is attributable to the scarcity of proj^er aliment for the young in 
early summer. The greater abundance of insects found in July, especially 
in their larval stages, which must necessarily constitute a fair jDercentage 
of their diet at first, would seem to contradict such a statement. Our 
experience goes to show that more nests with young birds are found from 
the middle of June to about the tenth of July than at any subsequent 
period, just at the time when insect life riots in luxuriance. 
