504 



NESTS AND E0G8 OF 



A nest of this thrush, obtained by Dr. 

 Minor, in Alaska, is a much more fin- 

 ished structure. Its base and periphery 

 are composed of an elaborate basket- 

 work of slender twigs. Within these is 

 an inner nest consisting of an inter- 

 weaving of fine dry grasses and long 

 gray lichens. The eggs are described 

 as pale greenish-blue, sparingly but 

 distinctly sprinkled and spotted with 

 dark umber-brown, size 1.13x.80. 



[764.] BED -SPOTTED BLTTE- 

 THEOAT. Cyaneciila suecica (Lynn.) 

 Geog. Dist. — ^Northern Europe and Asia; 

 casual in Alaska. 



This beautiful and interesting bird, 

 known as the Blue-throated Redstart, is 

 widely distributed in the Old World, 

 breeding in the more northern portions 

 — Norway, Sweden, Russia and Siberia. 

 In June, 1851, Dr. Adams found a fiock 

 of these birds feeding about some wil- 

 lows in the vicinity of St. Michael's, 

 Alaska. The nest is placed on the 

 ground, midst the larger herbage, in the 

 cavities of banks and under low brush- 

 764. Red-spotted Bltiethhoat (From Brehm.) .j^qq^^ usually well concealed. It is 



composed of dry grass, moss, withered leaves, roots, and is lined with finer mosses, 

 hair and the down of cotton-grass. The eggs are four to six in number, generally 

 a greenish-blue, but varying to grayish-green or olive; they are spotted with reddish- 

 nrown, which is usually thickest and deeper at the larger end. The average size is 



.75X.53 inches. 



765 WHEATEAR. Saxicola anan- 

 the (Linn.) Geog. Dist. — ^Europe, Northern 

 Africa, Asia, Greenland and Labrador, 

 straggling south to Nova Scotia, Maine, 

 Long Island and the Bermudas. 



The well-known Wheatear of the Old 

 World is common in Greenland and prob- 

 ably also breeds in Labrador. Dr. C. Hart 

 Merriam makes note of its probable breed- 

 ing on the north shore of the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence — at Godbout. A female was shot 

 by .Mr. Napoleon A. Comeau, June 9, 1885, 

 in which the eggs were pretty well de- 

 veloped. Its mate was also seen and it is 

 presumed that the birds would. In all prob- 

 ability, have bred In the vicinity. The 

 Wheatear breeds throughout the British 

 Islands, and in all of Northern Europe and 

 Asia. In the British Islands it begins to 

 make its nest in May. This is usually well 

 hidden in the ihnermost recess pf some 

 crevice among rocks, in an old wall, stone- 

 quarry, gravel-pit, and frequently in a de- 

 serted rabbit burrow. Mr. Hewiston has 

 known a pair to make their nest in the de- 



765. Wheatear (From Brehm.) 



