ARCHITECTURE OF THE OVEN-BIRD. 47 



The large-billed wagtail (Siurus rnotaeilla) is slightly larger than the 

 other, and its bill is longer than the skull. The upper parts are olive 

 brown, with a greenish shade; under parts white, with a very faint tinge 

 of pale buff behind. There is a conspicuous white line over the eye, a 

 brown one though widening behind, and a dusky line backward from the 

 mouth along the side of the throat ; the fore part of the breast and sides 

 of the body are covered with brownish arrow-shaped streaks, but the chin, 

 throat, belly, and vent are unspotted. This is a northern bird. 



The golden-crowned wagtail (Siurus auricapillus) is six inches long, 

 and colored as follows : Above, uniform olive green, with a tinge of yel- 

 low; crown with two narrow streaks of black from the bill, enclosing a 

 median and much broader one of brownish orange; beneath, white; the 

 breast, sides of the body, and a maxillary line streaked with black. The 

 female, and young of the year, are not appreciably different. 



The latter species, like others of the genus, is noted for its vocal pow- 

 ers and for its nest. In regard to the first, John Burroughs has left 

 nothing for me to say, as you will agree after reading pages 64 and 65 

 of " Wake Robin ;" but of the home of the golden-crown I must write 

 a brief description. 



Rather an early arrival in the middle and northern States, wintering 

 rarely this side of Mexico and the Antilles, it quickly proceeds to estab- 

 lish its well-guarded dwelling in the edge of the woods, less often in a 

 cleared space, and then only when the shelter of bushes is close by; and 

 it is noticeable that the neighborhood of water is not important, as is the 

 case with its congeners. Scraping aside the dead leaves, until a foun- 

 dation of solid earth is secured, the skilful bird entwines linear leaves, 

 grasses, shreds of bark, and bits of moss or blossoms, into a circular bed 

 both dry and warm. Then, from materials close at hand, and hence not 

 easily discernible through any difference between them and their surround- 

 ings, she heaps Tip a parapet, and drags upon the top old dead leaves, long 

 dry weeds, and steins of grasses, pieces of light bark that squirrels or 

 woodpeckers have thrown down, and even twigs, until she has made a 

 complete domed roof over her snug domicile, with its little unnoticed 

 door in front whence she can peer out. In this way she constructs a 

 cave -house, where she may sit secure from anything short of an ac- 

 cident. 



Varying in its timber with the kind of wood or pasture in which it is 

 placed the only way to find it is by searching the ground where a nest is 

 suspected, or where it seems likely one may be, until the bird is startled 

 out of her retreat. Even so, one cannot always be sure of his prize ; for 



