June 8th I foxmd a nest of the Wilson 

 Thrush containing one egg with a very 

 thin shell. I took it, and left in its place 

 the egg that still remained in the nest 

 found June 5th, that nest having been de- 

 serted after I took the two eggs. I visited 

 this new nest nearly every day for four 

 weeks and saw the female bird on the nest 

 evei7 time, but found no more eggs. I 

 saw but one bird in all this time, and at 

 last I found the nest emntv and (Jeserted. 

 fence at some distance in front of me. I 

 saw at once that it was a new species to 

 me, and my first impulse was " to shoot it 

 on the spot," but noticing it to be feeding 

 upon passing insects and not likely to fly 

 far away very soon, I decided to watch its 

 movements for a time before attempting to 

 secure it. It would sit upon a twig for 

 only a few moments, jerldng its tail in a 

 very nervous manner and uttering a sad, 

 querulous note which suggested the idea 

 that it must be a bird lost from its fellows, 

 stopping now and then in its lamentations 

 to dart out excitedly and seize some pass- 

 ing insect. After watching it some time I 

 secured it, and to my delight I foiuid I had 

 a specimen of the Black-crested Flycatcher 

 — that strange bird of which Dr. Coues 

 writes so interestingly in his "Birds of 

 the Colorado Valley," and in connection 

 with which he speaks so touchingly of one 

 of the common, yet sorrowful, occurrences 

 of border life. It is not strange that the 



or three inches of the ground, sometimes 

 attached to a stub or brier, and occasion- 

 ally in high grass near a cart-path. They 

 were constructed of dead leaves (princi- 

 pally beech leaves) and grape-vine bark. 

 The eggs were " light-blue, green-tinted," 

 and about the size of the Bluebird's 

 eggs. , . ' 



o. & o. vii. Nov. isaa . p , />o - /^/ 



428. Thrushes. [By Chas. Edw. Prior.] Ibid., p. 170, 171 

 f Wilson's and Wood Thrushes. Q.St Q^ 7ai»ViI 



The Brown Thrasher, the Wood Thru.sh , and 

 the Blue Jay all draw from the same unknown 

 source the lining for their nests, certainly not 

 for its softness, though such a bed might be 

 comfortable and airy in a hot day, yet i believe 

 they always use the same material regardless of 

 season or weather. ^ 



Curious Set of Eggs of the Wood 

 Thrush. 



A very singular set of eggs of the Wood 

 Thrush {Hylocklila mustelina) may he thus de- 

 scribed : 



No. 1 measures 1.13x.84, and is of the normal 

 color. 



No. 2 is 1.09X.83, and is also of the usual color. 



No. 3 is .87X.62, and is of the same color as the 

 two preceding eggs. 



No. 4 is .88X.62 and is of a pocuhar drahgreen- 

 isli color. 



They were found at Milton, Mass., on June 

 2t), 1883, and the parent bird was seen. It will 

 be noticed tliat the first two eggs arc larger than 

 the usual size for this bird, (which is from l.OOx 

 .T5 to 1.08X.70,) while the other two are "runts." 

 The greenish-drab one is different in color from 

 any eggs of this species that the present writer 

 has seen. O.&O. XI.Mliy.l686.p. bf, 



"*" I 



Wood Thrush. May 27, I found a nest 

 fe^ ^ of the Wood Thrush, {Jlylociehla muste- 

 ^ Una,) containing six eggs, three of them 

 Cowbird's. The nest was perhaps four 

 F^^^feet from the ground in a little stub of a 

 ^ I tree, and only a few rods from where I 



r^=v^have found a nest of the same species for 

 S two years preceding. I approached to 

 ^ X within a few feet of the bird before she 

 ? flew, and eyed her for some minutes with 

 much satisfaction. After leaving the nest 

 "^^^^she flew at me fiercely, and her cry of 

 ^ \ " whit-a whit" was so loud and animated as 

 ^ ^her wings fanned my face, that it will long 



V remain fresh in my memory. I have never 



V found any bird so brave in the defense of 

 ■ its nest as the Wood Thrush, and I know 



of no bird that can more forcibly express 

 its indignation at an intrusion. 



There is a sort of uniformity about most spe- 

 cies in tlie numbers of completed sets, and va- 

 riation is an exception, and in view of my last 

 five year's experience I should consider five or 

 even four in a Kingbird's nest an exception in- 

 stead of usual. A completed set of Wood 

 Thrush, {HijlorUMa mtiMdiiia) is sure to num- 

 ber four, yet 1 once found five, and probably 

 as often three would prevail. In the case of 

 the Catbird, (Galeoscoptes carolinensis) howuni- 

 ,— Nesting does four complete her set. An excess 

 ly once been presented to me, when on 

 I may the 17th last, I found a nest containing 

 I five ; and three eggs is as equally rare. 



Birds of the Adiroudaok Region. 



I. HylOciclila inustelina 



Have found it along Ihc lio.-J 

 but only stragglers occur licri 

 . A. K. Fisher). 



BuaN.o.c, e.oct.iBai.p.aae 



^el.) Baird. 

 ■ Brown's Tri 

 II. It breeds 



Woon Till 



out Lake 



