706 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
of arrival as the fourth week in April (N. A. Wood). At Petersburg, 
Monroe county, Mr. Trombley’s earliest record was April 15, 1898, and 
the average time of arrival about April 24. In Ingham county it is rarely 
seen before the last two or three days of April and many times has not 
been noticed before the 6th or 7th of May. The southward migration 
doubtless begins in August and is completed in September, few being seen 
after the middle of that month. 
While with us it shows a decided preference for the higher parts of large 
trees, and is especially partial to white oaks, in which the nest is most 
often built; however, it frequently descends to the lower branches of 
the trees and may sometimes be found in shrubbery, but rarely on the 
ground. It is extremely restless and active, moving from branch to branch 
with a quick jerky flight, keeping the wings half spread, the tail often 
elevated and in motion, while it utters a variety of high-pitched, squeaky 
and wheezy notes which are highly characteristic, but not loud enough to 
be heard at any great distance. During the nesting season, and occasion- 
ally at other times, the bird utters a very sweet warble which Coues de- 
scribes as, ‘‘a sweet and tender song, so low as to be inaudible at any 
considerable distance, yet so faultlessly executed and well sustained that 
the tiny musician may claim no mean rank in the feathered choir.” 
Nehrling says “‘The song bears some resemblance to the Catbird’s but 
is of course much lower and softer, not perceptible at a distance.” 
The nest is begun very soon after the birds arrive on the nesting grounds. 
In one instance we found a pair building a nest near the Agricultural 
College, Ingham county, on May 8 (1897), but this is unusually early, 
although Dr. Gibbs took a set of four eggs in Kalamazoo county May 5, 
1877. Asarule nests with eggs are most often found during the last week 
in May and the first week in June, and there seems to be no reason to 
suppose that a second brood is reared. 
The nest is one of the most beautiful built by any bird, being composed 
of various soft vegetable downs, largely from the milkweed' and thistle 
but bound together by spiders’ webs and possibly by the birds’ saliva, 
and the outside completely covered with bits of moss and lichens in the 
manner of the Hummingbird. _ It is almost invariably built on a horizontal 
branch and at a considerable height from the ground, often forty or fifty 
feet, but is occasionally placed in the fork of a branch, or more rarely 
still in an upright fork near the top of the tree itself. It has an external 
diameter of about two inches and usually a height of more than three, 
and is so deeply hollowed that the female is able to conceal herself almost 
completely, only the tip of the tail being visible when she is sitting. 
The eggs are four to six, bluish or greenish-white, speckled with reddish 
brown, and average .56 by .43 inches. 
The food of this species appears to be much like that of the kinglets, 
consisting entirely of insects and their larve, pups and eggs. Were it 
an abundant bird it would be invaluable to the fruit grower, but its small 
numbers, and the fact that it is never numerous in the orchards, somewhat 
detract from its economic value. Dr. Gibbs says: ‘‘This is’ one of those 
species which have seasons of special abundance and again are very rare. 
It was very abundant from 1876 to 1881 and again from 1889 to 1893 in 
Kalamazoo county, but it is now (1904) scarce here, and two of us have 
only recorded three specimens in the last two seasons.” 
