154 Further Notes on the Breeding of Tnnagers. 
I now wish to write about set up a cosy little nest in the 
same laurel bush, which they have always selected. By the 
15th of April the nest was completed. It was a well built 
open structure, and consisted oi' an assortment of rooty Ilbres, 
small pieces of stick and hay, and a few dead leaves. I 
may renuirk that it is in no way such an elegant home as 
their cousins, the Blue Tanagers make. The latter are much 
more fastidious and prefer, above all things, teased -out rope 
with occasional bits of paper, with which they construct a. 
rarely beautiful nest. 
For some reason or other the Scarlets were dissatisfied 
with their first nest, and again they set to work and built 
up a second, a few inches away from it. In fact, they dis- 
mantled the first considerably, in making the second, and it 
w;as finished on April the 24th. Apparently it was more to 
their liking, for the first egg was laid on April '2bt\\, and 
the second on April 26th, whereupon incubation began. 
The birds seem only to lay two eggs — at least that has 
been the case with this pair every time they have attempted 
to breed. 
The eggs have already been described — pale blue with 
black spots, and are very like those of our common Thrush, 
both in size and marking. 
The hen bii'd does all the incubating, and very rarely 
leaves the nest. His lordshii) prefers to disport himself auout 
the aviary, and have as little to do with the business on hand 
as possible at this stage. 
On May the Gtli and 7th two young were hatched — 
little dark brown ugly creatures. By the Ifth they were be- 
ginning to show quids, and had developed little brown goUy- 
wog patches of down on their heads. On the l!)th of May they 
both left the nest. Both were sti'ong little birds though they 
were poorly feathered. On referring to my notes of last year, 
I find that the young bird which then only survived a few 
days, left the nest in much the same condition and also on the 
13th day. I cannot help thinking that these youngsters would 
have a better chance if they i)ostponed their advent into tlie 
wide world for a few days longer, but it rather looks as if 
this were their instinctive time for feeling grown-up. 
For several days and nights they remained in the b/Ushes 
