Wayne: Bieds of South Carolina. 199 



measure .57X-45. The earliest dates upon which full comple- 

 ments of eggs have been taken are April 17, 1897, and April 19 

 of the same year, and the latest is May 9, 1895. These sets 

 consisted of five fresh eggs and incubation had just commenced. 

 Only one brood is reared in a season, unless the eggs have been 

 taken, when the birds will build new nests and lay again. 



This species breeds regularly in the live oaks on South Battery 

 in the city of Charleston. 



The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher winters from the vicinity of Char- 

 leston southward to Cuba, eastern Mexico, and Guatemala. 



FAMILY TURDID^: THRUSHES, BLUEBIRDS, ETC. 



302. Hylocichla mustelina (Gmel.). Wood Thrush. 



Although it is not generally known among ornithologists that 

 this sweet singer breeds in the low coast region of this state, it 

 not only does so, but also breeds as far south as northern Florida, 

 where, on the Wacissa River, I found it breeding sparingly in 

 1894. 1 



The birds arrive from the south during the beginning of the 

 second week in April — the 8th, 1890, being my earliest record — 

 and I have observed numbers in autumn as late as October 22, 

 which were greedily eating the berries of the dogwood. I be- 

 lieve many birds remain until the first week in November if the 

 food supply is plentiful and the weather mild. 



This species is eminently a swamp lover during the breeding 

 season and the places it frequents are so dense that the sun's 

 rays seldom penetrate to the surface of the ground even at noon. 

 While the birds are not common as breeders, almost any large 

 swamp will contain from two to five pairs. On June 8, 1885, I 

 found my first nest, which contained three fresh eggs, near Char- 

 leston. The nest was constructed of leaves, twigs and moss, 

 firmly plastered together with mud, and lined entirely with root- 

 lets. It was built in the fork of an ash tree, over a pond of water 

 and eight feet from the surface. 



A nest containing four eggs was found on May 26, 1886, in a 

 large swamp near Woodstock Station. This nest was built in a 

 fork of an ash tree, ten feet above the ground, and was composed 

 wholly of lichens, with a lining of rootlets. The earliest breeding 

 date is May 12, 1890, when I found a nest and three incubated 



i Auk, XII, 1895, 366. 



