THE NESTING HABITS OF SOME BIRDS 



The eggs we illustrate in this issue are 

 mainly those of well known birds, some 

 of which are common and quite widely 

 distributed over North America. 



The Catbirds (Galeoscoptes carolinen- 

 sis), delightfully intelligent birds and 

 charming singers, have an extensive 

 breeding range covering the eastern 

 United States from the Gulf of Mexico 

 northward to New Brunswick, the Sas- 

 katchewan, and British Columbia. Their 

 ragged appearing nests are well con- 

 structed with twigs, fine roots, grasses, 

 bark fibers, stems of weeds and are lined 

 with very fine rootlets usually, but some- 

 times with moss and leaves. The nests 

 are generally placed in bushes or heavily 

 foliaged trees and usually not very high 

 above the ground. The sets of eggs vary 

 from three to five in number and in color 

 they are a rich greenish blue and very 

 attractive. These birds are devoted to 

 their young and are always helpful to 

 any of their kind which may be in 

 trouble, and they are known to care for 

 the young which have lost their parents. 



The Robins (Merula migratoria) are 

 birds with which nearly all persons may 

 be acquainted for they frequent North 

 America, east of the Rocky Mountains 

 from Mexico northward to Alaska., and 

 they breed from about the latitude of 

 Virginia and Kansas northward to the 

 Arctic coast. Their rather rough and 

 bulky nests are built with grasses, fine 

 rootlets, leaves, twigs and stems. They 

 are strengthened by an inner layer or 

 wall neatly made of mud and lined with 

 fine grasses. Sometimes hair and wool 

 is used in the construction and they are 

 quite generally placed in shade or or- 

 chard trees at a height of from four to 

 forty feet above the ground. The sets 

 of the beautiful eggs vary from three to 

 five. 



The Chickadees (Parus atricapillus) 

 arc intelligent and delightful friends of 

 the human race. Their breeding range 

 seems to extend from southern Pennsyl- 



vania and the Ohio River northward to 

 Labrador. They are also known to nest 

 in the Alleghanies as far south as North 

 Carolina. Their nests are built in de- 

 serted woodpecker holes, cavities in de- 

 cayed trees or stumps, hollow fence posts 

 and similar places. The nests are con- 

 structed with various materials such as 

 moss, feathers, grasses, vegetable down, 

 the fibers of plants and animal hairs. 

 They are seldom more than fifteen feet 

 above the ground and sometimes the 

 holes are made by themselves in decayed 

 wood of trees. The sets of eggs vary 

 from five to eight. 



The Long-billed Marsh Wrens (Cisto- 

 thorus polustris) have quite an extensive 

 breeding range covering the eastern 

 United- States from the Gulf States 

 northward to Manitoba and Massachu- 

 setts. Their nests are quite bulky and 

 are globular in form and built in reeds 

 or bushes. The materials used in their 

 construction are grasses, stems of reeds 

 and weeds which are closely interwoven 

 and sometimes plastered with mud. The 

 opening is upon one side and is fre- 

 quently concealed. The nests are lined 

 with fine grasses or the down of plants. 

 The eggs in the sets vary from five to 

 nine and are so thickly covered with 

 various shades of brown that the white 

 background is nearly always absent. 



The Brown Thrashers (Harporhyn- 

 chiis rufus) breed from the Gulf States 

 to Maine, Montreal and Manitoba. 

 Their nests which are built upon the 

 ground or in low bushes are built with 

 twigs, rootlets, tendrils, shreds of bark, 

 and leaves, are quite rough and 

 bulky. They are lined with fine rootlets, 

 animal hairs and feathers. The sets of 

 eggs vary from three to six. The males 

 are rich toned musicians, singing in the 

 morning or evening, from an exposed 

 position. 



The Yellow Warblers (Dendroica ces- 

 fiva), often called the Wild Canary or 

 Summer Yellow Bird, breed quite 



