Lake George 



It was to be expected that at least some of 

 the eggs would contain partly developed chicks, 

 which would make it difficult or impossible to 

 obtain a full set. But, on taking the five eggs 

 from the vacant nests, I found, to my great sur- 

 prise, in blowing them, that they all were sim- 

 ply addled, so that they gave me no difficulty. 

 Also my fear that the shells were permanently 

 discolored proved groundless ; for I found that 

 the dark tint came from the yolk showing 

 through the thin, transparent shell ; and, as the 

 contents were gradually expelled, the shell re- 

 sumed its normal color. In the great majority 

 of eggs, the shells are sprinkled with dark spots, 

 but those of the phoebe are commonly immacu- 

 late. I thus secured a perfect and beautifully 

 constructed nest, and, by combining the leavings 

 of two nests, a full set of eggs. The nest is more 

 artistic than that of many of the song birds, 

 which are said to stand higher in the scale of 

 intelligence, for poor phoebe is only a songless 

 flycatcher. Its broad foundation of mud and 

 small sticks was overlaid with mosses, that were 

 still green when I took it, and the cavity was 

 delicately lined with thread-like strips of inner 

 bark of a tree and horse-hair. There are few 

 nests more elegant than a fine specimen of a 

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