with, chocolate brown ; the deep shell markings have a purplish hue. The marks may occur irregularly 
over the surface, or he confined to the crown, forming a wreath ; occasionally the coloring matter is 
deposited in scrawls and lines, or being regular in outline, is so deep beneath the surface that it 
appears a faint lilac. 
The average size of twenty specimens is ,96x.7l; the largest, 1.02 x. 75; the smallest, .85 x .63. 
They are deposited every day, and incubated in fourteen days. 
DIFFERENTIAL POINTS: 
The nest of this species might possibly be mistaken for that of the Loggerhead Shrike ( Collurio 
ludovicianus ) ; the locality, position, and even the materials of construction, are often very similar. As a 
rule, it may be stated that the former is smaller, firmer, and harsher, and contains a plaster which is 
entirely wanting in the latter. The eggs are not to be confounded with any others common to the 
state. 
REMARKS : 
The nest represented in the drawing was taken in June, 1877, from a sycamore growing on the 
bank of the canal in the southern part of Pickaway county; it was distant from the nearest farm-house 
about three-quarters of a mile. 
The foundation is composed of dried grasses, weed stems and fibres, straws, and sticks ; the super- 
structure is of similar, but finer and better selected material, well plastered within, and ornamented 
without with pods from the Avild cucumber vine. The lining is of round grass, horse hairs, feathers, and 
avooI. The inside diameter measures three and one-eighth ; the outside diameter four and three-quarters ; 
and the inside depth, one and three-quarters, inches. The eggs represent the usual sizes, and are colored 
from freshly bloAA'n specimens. 
