breaking had taken place some time before 
I found them. I forgot to mention that 
the first instance, neither the eggs nor the 
nest were in any way disturbed beyond par - 
ing the grass above in order to see the egg 
dlS I willadd l\e that if Short-bill “ decors 
are found in Juk it is well to mark 1 
and pay another Wt about the middle of 
July, as of the nesteW mentioned one held 
Len eggs and «»°V » | 
about a month later. J- 1 • 
Ponkapog, Mass. \ 
August Nests and Birds. 
During the last twenty days of August I 
3 and examined eighteen nesmo, the 
American Goldfinch, or Thistle-birf All 
were situated in untrimmed hedges oW 
orange, growing from eight to fourteen 
Wh and within a radius of two miles fr\m 
town. Other observers note this bird s nest- 
ing in orchards, especially m young app 
trees but I carefully explored all the or- 
chards in this neighborhood without finding 
a single nest of the Goldfinch except in 
hedges The nests were usually placed | 
about three-fourths the height of the hedge, 
on an obliquely ascending branch, fastened 
around it and smaller outgrowing twigs One 
nest was saddled on a horizontal limb and 
was not supported by smaller twjfes, thougj 
several thorns aided in giving a firm base 
t „ There is much variation m 
the structure, lhere is 
the construction of the nests, especially in 
the external depth, which ranges from two 
to nearly four inches. One nest, made of 
fine bark fibres, was well rounded and close y 
woven, and covered without with fragments 
of gossamer, which gave it a grayer app 
ance than most of the other nests. Wi hm 
was a layer of whitish horse ' h f’ 
the latter was the downy bed of this . 
other nest contained many fibres of a yel- 
lowish brdwn bark, had no hair in itslmmg 
and its cavity was larger and deeper. 
— aUUVC Hem U1C 
height "of "the hedge". It is a loosely con- 
structed affair, though firmer and deeper 
than the nest of the Mourning Dove, and 
quite similarly situated, and the Cuckoo sit- 
ti\upon the nest, when approached fro 
the V, may be easily mistaken for the 
Dove. ' One nest was built of heavy sticks 
and rooLome of which were one-fourth of 
an inch in'diameter and eight inches long, 
laid loosely'' together, with dried leaves, corn 
husks, grapevine bark and rootlets inter- 
mixed. lie Cavity was three inches across 
and one inch deW though most of the nests 
were shallower. Another nest had for be 
ling two inches df corn silk, with many 
stalks of the corn bloW or tassel laid among 
the sticks. Four of the nests each contained 
three fresh eggs, two W> Earned wo 
fresh eggs each, and the remaining nest held 
two newly hatched you A one egg ] ■ 
I hatching and one decayed egg. 
Late nests of the Black-throated Bunting 
! .. Dickcissle,” were placed in untrimmed 
I hedges at distances from the ground varying 
from five to eight feet. I found four such 
ir6 , ORNITH 
breaking had taken place some time before 
I found them. I forgot to mention that, in 
the first instance, neither the eggs nor the 
nest were in any way disturbed beyond part- 
ing the grass above in order to see the eggs 
distinctly. 
I will add here that if Short-bill “ decoys ” 
are found in June, it is well to mark them 
and pay another visit about the middle of 
July, as of the nests just mentioned one held 
seven eggs and another six when visited 
about a month later. J "• H. L envies. 
Ponkanog, Mass. 
O.&O.V 0 II 8 , Am. 1893 d. 115-110 
Nesting of the Virginia Rail in New 
Hampshire. 
BY S. ALBERT SHAW. 
During the latter part of the summer of 1880 
a boy brought me an addled egg which he 
found in an old nest in a swampy pasture and 
which I could not satisfactorily identify, so I 
decided to make a search for the nest next 
season, hoping the birds would return there 
to breed again. 
It was on the 13th of May last that I visited 
the above-mentioned pasture, which is boggy 
and very wet, the open part being covered with 
hassocks and a dense growth of rushes and 
coarse grass, the other portion with a thick 
growth of aiders, white birches and scattering 
young pines, and through which Hows a slug- 
gish brook. The ground is traversed by cow- 
paths running in every direction, the interven- 
ing spaces being covered with a rank growth 
of skunk cabbage. 
It was while threading my way carefully 
through the above thicket that I had a line op- 
portunity of witnessing the movements of a 
bird I had never seen alive before, a Virginia 
Kail. 
I remained perfectly quiet and he was soon 
running about within a few feet of mo, and the 
thought came to me that from the examination 
of a dead specimen one would never suspect it 
capable of such nimble and graceful move- 
ments as I had the pleasure of witnessing. If 
I stirred he would pause and turn his bright 
little eyes towards me for an instant, and then, 
as if reassured, would continue his search for 
food as unconcernedly as before. Saw him 
catch several flies in a dexterous manner and 
also probe the mud with his long red bill in a 
rapid manner. As I moved away he ran along 
only a few steps in advance for quite a distance 
when I suddenly lost sight of him, but shall 
always remember the meeting with pleasure. 
Thinking from its actions a nest might be not 
far away, I spent quite a while looking for it 
but in vain. 
On May 21st I made another effort to find 
the nest and was successful after a long search. 
It was in the midst of a large patch of cat tails, 
eight inches from the ground, and was com- 
posed of dead grass, with a few leaves of the 
cat tails on top, which was perfectly flat, the 
whole being supported by several last year’s 
stalks that surrounded the nest, almost com- 
pletely hiding it from view. It contained one 
egg, with no room to spare. 
I flushed the bird from the nest and as she 
flew rather slowly and awkwardly, with legs 
hanging down at full length, I had a good 
chance to identify her before she dropped into 
a thicket a few rods away. 
Visited it again on the 28th, and found eight 
eggs, and that the surface of the nest had been 
doubled by the addition of more leaves of the 
cat tails and also slightly hollowed. 
The eggs are of a dirty white, covered with 
lilac spots which are larger and more numerous 
on the larger end. The measurements average 
1.20X.89. 
c; 2*0 
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