OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. J 



hovers about the head of the intruder evincing i 

 most intense anxiety and distress. 



Building operations are begun about the i'; 

 of May, the bulk of the work being performed 

 the female. The nest is placed upon a horizon 

 branch of the tulip-poplar or a species of Quer 

 on the outskirts of a grove, or upon an apple-t 

 in less sequestered situations. It talses but' ft 

 days to construct a nest, which is loosely i 

 together and scarcely survives the^ season 

 which it is designed. Exteriorly, it is coriipos 

 of rude sticks, with an intermixture of weeds a 

 grasses; and is lined with roots, grass-stems, s 

 occasionally the inner bark of Castanea or Querc 

 After the completion of the, nest and 

 usual complement of eggs is deposited, ( 

 being laid a day, incubation ensues. This di 

 devolves wholly upon the female. She is a 

 necessitated to provide her own nourishme 

 The time spent in sitting is about 1 2 days. 



The young are fed by the female principa 

 Their food consists of the larvae of beetles i 

 lepidoptera, with mature forms of the sar 

 besides, spiders, earthworms, aphides, and dipte 

 In about two weeks the young leave the nest, i 

 in another week, they are thrown upon their o 

 resources. ,. 



So susceptible to cold is this species, that 

 unusually chilly weather, many have been kno 

 to perish. We distinctly recall a season of unus 

 cold in May, which succeeded very oppress 



