134 
Brewster on Large- Billed Water- Thrush. 
wise evincing no particular anxiety or concern. The nest, which is before 
me, is exceedingly large and bulky, measuring externally 3.50 inches in 
diameter, by 8 inches in length, and 3.50 inches in depth. Its outer w^all, 
a solid mass of soggy dead leaves plastered tightly together by the mud 
adhering to their surfaces, rises in the form of a rounded parapet, the outer 
edge of which was nicely graduated to conform to the edge of the earthy 
bank in which it was placed. In one corner of this mass, and w^ell back, 
is the nest proper, a neatly rounded, cup-shaped hollow, measuring 2.50 
inches in diameter by 2.50 inches in depth. This inher nest is composed 
of small twigs and green mosses, with a lining of dry grasses and a few 
hairs of squirrels or other mammals arranged circularly. The eggs found 
in this nest are of a rounded-oval shape and possess a high polish. Their 
ground-color is white with a fleshy tint. About the greater ends are 
numerous large but exceedingly regular blotches of dark umber with 
fainter sub-markings of pale lavender, while over the remainder of their 
surface are thickly sprinkled dottings of reddish-brown. But slight vari- 
ation of marking occurs, and that mainly with regard to the relative size 
of the blotches upon the greater ends. They measure, respectively, .75 X 
.63, .78X.64, .75X.63, .76X.62, .76X.62, .75x61.’ 
The second nest was taken May 8, on the opposite side of the same pond, 
in a precisely similar situation. Attention w T as first called to its proximity 
by the presence of the old birds, which were sitting on a mossy log a few 
yards off, the male pouring forth an almost uninterrupted strain of gushing 
melody to his mate. Enlightened by previous experience, the writer went 
directly to the only fallen tree in the vicinity, and almost at the first glance 
among the earth-laden roots looked in upon the eggs. This nest was very 
prettily sheltered from the rains, and concealed from prying eyes above, by 
a large white fungus, about the size and very nearly the shape of a shingle, 
which projected directly over it from the wall of earth behind, barely 
leaving sufficient space beneath to admit the passage of the bird. In gen- 
eral character this nest is nearly identical in every respect with the one 
already described. It has the same rounded outer wall of closely impacted 
dead leaves, with, however, an admixture of dry mosses, cypress twigs, and 
strips of bark. In shape it is nearly square, measuring externally 6.50 
inches in diameter by 3.54 inches in depth. The inner nest measures 
2.73 inches in diameter by 2.50 inches in depth, and is lined with dry 
grasses, leaf-stems, and a few white hairs. The eggs were four in number and 
perfectly fresh ; probably more would have been laid had the nest been 
left undisturbed. They agree closely in shape with those of the first set, 
and have an equally high polish, but are somewhat more heavily and 
handsomely marked. The color is creamy -white with heavy blotches of 
umber-brown generally distributed, but occurring most thickly at the 
greater ends ; fine dottings of lighter brown, and a few spots of pale lav- 
ender, fill in the intermediate spaces. They measure, respectively, .71 X 
.60, .71X.60, .72X.60, .72X.61. In each of these two sets the eggs show 
unusually little variation inter se. 
