All these notes are uttered with vehemence, and with such strange and various modulations as to appear near or distant, in the manner of a ventriloquist. In mild weather, during moonlight nights, his notes are heard regularly, as though the performer were disputing with the echoes of his own voice. "Perhaps I ought to be ashamed to confess it," says Mr. Bradford Torrey, after a visit to the Senate and House of Representatives at Washington, "but after all, the congressman in feathers interested me most. I thought indeed, that the _Chat_ might well enough have been elected to the lower house. His volubility and waggish manners would have made him quite at home in that assembly, while his orange colored waistcoat would have given him an agreeable conspicuity. But, to be sure, he would have needed to learn the use of tobacco." The nest of the Chat is built in a thicket, usually in a thorny bush or thick vine five feet above the ground. It is bulky, composed exteriorly of dry leaves, strips of loose grape vine bark, and similar materials, and lined with fine grasses and fibrous roots. The eggs are three to five in number, glossy white, thickly spotted with various shades of rich, reddish brown and lilac; some specimens however have a greenish tinge, and others a pale pink. SUMMARY. Page 203. #MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD.#--_Sialia arctica._ Other names: "Rocky Mountain" and "Arctic Bluebird." RANGE--Rocky Mountain region, north to Great Slave Lake, south to Mexico, west to the higher mountain ranges along the Pacific. NEST--Placed in deserted Woodpecker holes, natural cavities of trees, nooks and corners of barns and outhouses; composed of dry grass. EGGS--Commonly five, of pale, plain greenish blue. * * * * * Page 208. #ENGLISH SPARROW.#--_Passer domesticus._ Other names: "European Sparrow," "House Sparrow." RANGE--Southern Europe. Introduced into and naturalized in North America, Australia, and other countries. NEST--Of straw and refuse generally, in holes, boxes, trees, any place that will afford protection. EGGS--Five to seven. * * * * * Page 211. #ALLEN'S HUMMING BIRD.#--_Selasphorus alleni._ RANGE--Pacific coast, north to British Columbia, east to southern Arizona. NEST--Plant down, covered with lichens. EGGS--Two, white. * * * * * Page 215. #GREEN-WINGED TEAL.#--_Anas carolinensis._ RANGE--North America, migrating south to Honduras and Cuba. NEST--On the ground, in a thick growth of grass. EGGS--Five to eight, greenish-buff, usually oval. * * * * * Page 220. #BLACK GROUSE.#--_Tetrao tetrix._ Other name: "Black Cock." RANGE--Southern Europe and the British Islands. NEST--Carelessly made, of grasses and stout herbage, on the ground. EGGS--Six to ten, of yellowish gray, with spots of light brown. * * * * * Page 221. #AMERICAN FLAMINGO.#--_Phoenicopterus ruber._