26 Allen on Nest and Eggs of the Cerulean Warbler. 



inches; outside diameter, 2.50 inches; depth inside, 1.40; external 

 depth, 1.75. The eggs vary little in size or color, and mainly in 

 respect to the size of the blotches. The ground-color is dull creamy- 

 white, thickly covered with rather heavy blotches of reddish-brown. 

 In one egg the blotches are coarse and cover the greater part of the 

 surface ; in another the markings are finer, quite evenly diffused, 

 and of a lighter tint ; in the other two about two thirds of the sur- 

 face is covered by the markings. The eggs measure .60 X .47 of an 

 inch. 



The Museum has also two other nests of this species. One was 

 taken, with one egg, at Drummondsville, Ontario, in June, 1873, 

 and, with the egg, was soon after described by Dr. Brewer (Hist. 

 N. Amer. Birds, Vol. Ill, p. 505). The other nest was taken 

 at Mount Carmel, 111., May 16, 1878, by Mr. William Bryant of 

 Boston. It contained four eggs, which are now in his collec- 

 tion. The nest described by Dr. Brewer differs from the Penfield 

 nest in no essential point, except that it is rather slighter, and 

 has a more nearly continuous covering of lichens, with which are 

 mixed small pieces of hornet's nest. The bottom of the nest shows 

 that it was built in the fork of a small branch. The Mount Carmel 

 nest differs from the others in having somewhat thicker walls, thus 

 giving to the structure greater bulk and firmness. Like the others, 

 it is partly covered externally with lichens, which enclose some of 

 the smaller twigs amidst which it is fixed to the upper surface of a 

 small branch. These nests agree as closely in their general struc- 

 ture, as well as in the material of their composition, as three nests 

 of the same species are often found to do, and differ quite widely 

 from the nests of any other species of the genus known to me. The 

 Penfield and Mount Carmel nests were placed respectively twenty 

 and twenty-five feet from the ground, and the Drummondsville nest 

 at a height of fifty feet. 



Audubon describes the nest of the Cerulean Warbler as placed in 

 the forks of a low tree or bush, and as being partly pensile, and the 

 eggs as being pure white, with a few reddish spots about the larger 

 end. In the light of present information, Audubon's description is 

 evidently erroneous in nearly every particular. The only other de- 

 scription of the nest and eggs of this species is that given by Dr. 

 Brewer, as already stated. 



Dr. Brewer describes the egg as somewhat similar in its general 

 appearance to the eggs of the Yellow Warbler [D. aestiva), but as be- 



Deane on Albinism and Melanism in Birds, 27 



ing smaller, with the ground-color of a different shade of greenish- 

 white. On calling Dr. Brewer's attention to the discrepancy between 

 his description and the set of eggs above described, he was led 

 to re-examine the subject, and also to compare his egg with the set 

 obtained by Mr. Bryant. As a result, he writes me that his egg 

 corresponds exactly with those obtained at Mount Carmel. He fur- 

 ther states that while they seem to resemble the eggs of D. cestiva, 

 a comparison shows that while the spots on the eggs of the last- 

 named species are " olivaceous-brown," those on the eggs of Z>. 

 ccerulea are " decidedly red-brown." He also still further observes, 

 " In my egg and in Mr. Bryant's the ground-color is very conspicu- 

 ous, the spots sparse. In yours the spots are large and confluent, 

 obscuring all the ground-color." In the eggs collected at Penfield 

 the blotches are probably exceptionally large and heavy, but the 

 differences between these eggs and the others are not greater than 

 occur not uncommonly between different sets of eggs in most spe- 

 cies of birds that lay spotted eggs. There consequently appears to 

 be no reason for doubting the authenticity of either of the sets of 

 eggs here attributed to D. ccerulea, which in two of the instances at 

 least were identified by the capture of the parent bird. 



Bull. N.O.O. 4,Jan.. 1879, p. ^ ^ ' ^ ■ 



