174 



ORNITH( 



Wilson's Theush {Turdus fuseescens,) 

 except the Eobiri, the most abundant thrash 

 of this locality. Although found plenti- 

 fully in nearly all situations, its favorite 

 haunts are low, swampy woods. The past 

 Summer a pair of these Thrushes built 

 their nest and reared their young within 

 fifty yards of my home. The site which 

 they selected for their nest was by the 

 roadside under an elm tree, among the 

 rank, growing male ferns. They seemed 

 to be an unusually social pair, and came 

 about the house searching for food, show- 

 ing no signs of fear. Teams were con- 

 stantly passing within eight feet of their 

 nest. Of twelve sets which I collected 

 this Summer, seven contained four, four 

 three, and one two eggs each. The set 

 containing but two eggs was taken July 

 26th and would undoubtedly have con- 

 tained one or two more had I left the nest 

 undisturbed. The earliest set was taken 

 May 30th. Six sets measure as follows : 

 Set of four collected May 30th, 92x66, 

 90x65,88x65,88x65; set of four col- 

 lected June 5th, 88x65, 87x65, 86X65, 

 85X65; set of four collected June 5th, 

 89x68, 88x67, 88x66, 92x65; set of 

 three collected June 13th, 85x68, 84x67, 

 85x68 ; set of three collected June 20th, 

 84x70, 87X69, 84x69; set of three col- 

 lected June 28th, 80x60, 76x62, 80x60. 

 The set taken June 28th was, I think, the 

 third litter laid by that pair of birds, 

 which will account for the small size of 

 the eggs. The eggs are oval but vary 

 somewhat in shape ; their color is bluish- 

 green, a little darker than those of the 

 Bluebird, and lighter than those of the 

 Catbird. The nest is placed on or near 

 the ground, but usually in a low bush 

 within a few inches of the ground, and is 

 composed of leaves, dried grass and weeds, 

 lined with iine roots, strips of bark, and 

 often hair. There is but little variation in 

 the nests which I have examined in this 

 locality.— C. O. Tracy, Taftaville, Vt. 

 ■'dinh umi ild u fui Yul L imL VHI. Oi d j tJU. 



Wilson's Thrush, with Spotted Eogb and nesting on a Tbbb.— 

 In a collection of nests and eggs received from Vermont this season was 

 the nest of this species built upon a horizontal limb of a tree, fifteen feet 

 from the ground, and containing four spotted eggs. This is the only in- 

 stance I have ever known either of the nest being much above the ground 

 or of the eggs being other than immaculate. But I find it is not without 

 precedent. Mr. George 0. Welch several years since found a nest of this 

 Thrush in Lvnn at a height of twenty-five feet above the ground, and Mr. 

 Allen has recorded (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XVII, 48) an instance of 

 its having spotted eggs. This case combines both. The nest is large and 

 bulky, was saddled over quite a large limb, the impress of which is shown 

 in the base. The ground-color of one egg is unusually deep, as deep as 

 that of a Catbird, but of a different shade. The spots are of a bright 

 golden-brown, in one egg very strongly marked, in the other three not so 

 much so. The parent was sent with the nest, and before I received it its 

 identity had been carefully verified by that veteran ornithologist, Charles 

 S. Paine, Esq., of Randolph, Vt. — T. M. Brewer, Boston, Mass. 



B»1L N.O.O. 3, Oct.. 1878, p. 



o.&o. vn.Mov.ise^.p. /;v. 



