OVEN-BIRD 225 



Nest. — The nest is unique in shape among the Warblers and its 

 resemblance to an old Dutch oven has given the bird its name. It is 

 completely arched with a flattened roof, the entrance being at one side. 

 It is composed largely of dried leaves and leaf skeletons, with occasion- 

 ally bits of moss, and is rather coarsely lined with grasses, blossom 

 stalks, etc. 



"Outwardly the nest is composed of dead grass, weed-stems, 

 and bushy heads of the walking or tumbling grass; wild grapevine 

 bark, strips of chestnut bark lining, dead and decayed leaf stems and 

 leaves of the chestnut, oak, beech, maple, cherry, dogwood and hickory, 

 principally the first two. Rarely bits of the hair moss and small dead 

 twigs enter into the body of the nest. The chief difference, however, 

 is in the quantity of grass or leaves. The structure is lined sparsely 

 with long black horse-hair in almost every instance. In twenty per 

 cent an additional underlining of grass and weed stems, and, in one 

 instance, of grass stems alone. I have seen two nests in which a few 

 long white horse-hairs appeared with the black, one with a few wild 

 strawberry runners, and another in which oak blossoms were admixed. 

 The nest is usually arched, the substructure or nest proper is sunk 

 in the carpet of leaves to the level of the lower edge of the entrance 

 hole. The mode of construction does not vary from the ordinary bird 

 architecture. The outer framework of stems is bent over and work 

 proceeds inward at which both sexes work more or less. Any little 

 interference at this stage often results in the desertion of the incom- 

 pleted structure. I have observed the frail straw arch erected by 

 eleven A. M. and the whole edifice lined and completed within two days. 

 The entrance measures 1.20-1.70x2.00-2.20 inches, being wider than 

 high." {Burns MS.) 



Eggs. — 4 or 5, in even proportions, 5 being as common a number 

 as 4. Ground color a rather glossy white to creamy, over which are 

 specks, spots and blotches of reddish brown, lilac-gray and dark chest- 

 nut, with under shell markings of lavender distributed in varying 

 degrees ; some are handsomely wreathed about large end with scatter- 

 ing marks over rest of egg, others have the large end completely 

 covered with numerous spots and specks, while others are quite evenly 

 marked over all the surface, but more heavily at the large end. Size ; 

 average, .79X.63; extremes, .88X.64, .68X.55, .87X.69. (Figs. 87,88.) 



Nesting Dates. — Weaverville, N. C. May 7- June i (C. W. C); 

 West Chester, Pa., May 25-June 8 {Jackson) ; Waynesburg, Pa., May 

 iS-June 29 {Jacobs) ; New York City, May 20- July 5, two-thirds incu- 

 bated {F. M. C.) ; Granville, N. Y., May 15 (/. P. N.) ; New Haven, 



