sometimes white, but most frequently it has the faint yellow hue common to the silk of the willow 
blossom. The down may cover the entire cavity, and be an eighth of an inch or more in thickness; or 
there may be but very little and that at the bottom, or irregularly distributed and mixed with pieces of 
broken and split grasses and horse-hairs. When the outside is composed of wool or cotton, the lining is 
generally of the same material. In towns, various substances besides those mentioned may enter into 
the structure ; such as strings, worsted, ravelings, paper, cloth, and rarely feathers. As a rule, however, 
there is great uniformity in the materials of the nest. The average dimensions of twenty nests are as 
follows: Outside diameter 2.75 ; outside depth 2.50; diameter of cavity 1.60; depth of cavity 1.30 inches. 
The outside may be an inch or more larger than the measurements given, but the inside dimensions are 
quite constant, especially the diameter of cavity. 
EGGS: 
The number of eggs in a full set varies from three to six ; the usual number is five. The ground- 
color of the shell is commonly white, but it may be faintly tinted with blue, green, yellow, or gray. 
The markings consist of blotches, spots, and specks, rarely lines, of yellowish or reddish-brown of different 
shades confined chiefly about the base, where they generally form a ring, and are often confluent; else- 
where they arc unequally distributed, but never so thickly as to obscure the ground-color. The deop 
shell-markings appear purplish or bluish. Plain eggs are occasionally found, and also specimens having 
the markings all beneath the surface of the shell. The average size is about .66 x .51 ; extremes .55 x 
.48 and .75 x .57. 
DIFFERENTIAL POINTS: 
See table. 
REMARKS : 
The nest illustrated was taken from a small elm on the bank of the Scioto River, the last week 
in May, 1878. It represents the position, materials, and size most frequently seen. The eggs show the 
usual sizes, colors of ground, and markings. 
To me the nest of the Summer Warbler has always been a subject of admiration. It is the repre- 
sentative of strength, comfort, beauty, every thing necessary for a cozy summer home; so compact is it, 
that it may be seen firmly attached to its supports after the frosts and winds of fall have stripped the 
foliage from the trees, and even the rains, snows, and gales of severe winter often fail to dislodge it. 
The bird, too, with its yelloAV coat and piping notes, is one of the most pleasing of our fauna. Though 
exceedingly friendly and familiar, they are very watchful and solicitous, and seldom go far from home 
during the nesting-season. When robbed by man they exhibit much feeling, and scold incessantly the 
thief they are too tiny to attack. On account of the imposition so persistently practiced upon the 
Summer Warbler by the Cowbird, they have always drawn largely upon my sympathy. Rarely, if ever, 
have I found a nest that did not contain one or more of the eggs of this parasite. Too weak to roll 
out the homely speckled egg, and too tidy to break it, it must either be hatched or the nest abandoned. 
If the Warbler has already deposited her own eggs, she generally accepts the situation, otherwise she 
frequently builds again, either over the first nest or in a new position near by ; but even this extra labor 
is by no means an escape from the evil. In 1878 I found a structure in a bush, composed of two com- 
plete nests, one above the other; the two were forcibly separated, and in the cavity of the first lay a 
Cowbird’s egg. Another, found in 1876, 'was made up of three perfect nests, built one above the other; 
the upper one contained fire Warbler’s eggs and two Bunting’s; the second and first each one Bunting’s 
egg. So, notwithstanding the planning and work of the Yellow-bird, she had at last to consent to hatch 
and rear two ugly chicks or desert her own offspring. 
72 
