72 . LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 
and (generally) markings on the wing, whitish. Habits very 
different. 
(b). ‘Five eggs, not quite fresh, which I took from a nest 
in the White Mountains on the 23rd of July (probably those 
of a second set), were pure crystal-white, thinly and minutely 
speckled with bright reddish-brown, and averaging about -70 X 
‘55 of an inch. The nest, thickly lined with feathers of the 
Ruffed Grouse, was in a low moss-covered stump, about a foot 
high, in a dark swampy forest, filled with tangled piles of fallen 
trees and branches. The entrance to the nest, on one side, was 
very narrow, its diameter being less than an inch, and was 
covered with an overhanging bit of moss, which the bird was 
obliged to push up on going in.” (H. D. Minot.) Dr. Brewer 
describes other eggs as measuring ‘65:48 of an inch, and 
“spotted with a bright reddish-brown and a few pale markings 
of purplish-slate, on a pure white ground.” The nest contain- 
ing these eggs, which were six in number, “was built in an 
occupied log-hut, among the fir-leaves and mosses in a crev- 
ice, between the logs.” It was found by Mr. William F. Hall 
‘cat Camp Sebois, in the central eastern portion of Maine.” 
(c),. The Winter Wrens are not very common in this State, 
and are generally seen here only in April -and October, when 
migrating. They spend their summers in the most northern 
parts of New England and the cold countries beyond, and 
their winters to the southward of Massachusetts.19 They are 
so little social as to generally travel singly, and to avoid the 
neighborhood of man, usually frequenting, when journeying, 
woods, or roadsides bordered by them, though I have also seen 
them in woodpiles near houses or barns. In such places they 
busy themselves about the piles of brush and logs; when 
frightened often taking refuge in stone walls, if any be near, 
where, on account of their small size and great activity, they 
are as much at home as squirrels. When they have once taken 
to such a retreat, it is impossible to keep sight of them for 
any great length of time. Wilson says that in winter they are 
19T have heard of but few instances of their being seen in this State in winter. 
