SUMMER BIRDS OF FLATHEAD LAKE. 295 



Oological Notes. 



Of several species, quite common throughout the Flathead region, no 

 nests were met with in the seasons of 1900 and 1901. Notes made con- 

 cerning such as were found nesting in 1902 may be of interest, though 

 little new or unusual was observed in the nidification thus described. 



A nest of the western robin, Merula migratoria propinqua, was found 

 on May 31, at Poison. It was in a low crotch of a haw tree, and con- 

 tained three eggs. Thinking that the set was incomplete, I visited the 

 nest on the following morning to note progress, when I found only two 

 eggs in the nest. It was evident that some marauder had despoiled the 

 home of part of its contents. I was unable to follow the fate of the nest, 

 but it is likely that on a future occasion, when the owner returned to her 

 nest after an outing, she found it empty. Last season I noted a similar 

 occurrence in the history of a nest of Wright's flycatcher, Empidonax 

 wrightii. Each successive day the set showed a decrease of one egg, 

 until finally only the empty nest remained. It would be interesting to 

 knov/ the particular despoiler of each of these wildwood homes. 



In view of the extended notes given concerning the nidification of the 

 olive-backed thrush, Turdus ustulatus swainsonii, in the larger bulletin, it 

 may seem superfluous to add anything of like nature in these pages. 

 However, the following may not be out of place. A deserted nest of 

 olive-backed thrush was found on July 6, containing two eggs. The site 

 was an upright crotch of a small flr, perhaps the lowest in my observa- 

 tion, the brim of the nest being not more than three feet from the ground. 



Deserted nests of this thrush are chanced upon quite frequently. One 

 fell under my notice on July 9, on the Helena club grounds near the road. 

 It was in an upright crotch of a dead oblique fir, about seven feet from 

 the ground. It was a very bulky nest, the walls averaging one and 

 one-fourth inches in thickness. They were made of coarse dried grass, 

 lichen, skeleton leaves, and punky material, the unfinished interior being 

 mainly of skeleton leaves. This nest contained four eggs, rather advanced 

 in incubation. 



In several instances I have observed the olive-backed thrush sitting 

 in the unfinished, empty nest. On July 6, I noticed a female sitting in 

 a nest of which the foundation was scarcely laid. Apparently she was 

 not working on the nest, shaping it to her form, but sitting quietly as if 

 incubating. On July 19, I inspected this nest, and then it contained three 

 eggs advanced in incubation. Once before this season I noticed a female 

 sitting in her unfinished nest. It is worth mentioning that on both these 

 occasions the day was showery, and the weather may have influenced the 

 bird in its action. 



As in each of the tv/o preceding seasons, one nest of the willow thrush, 

 Turdus fuscescens salicicola, was found, and the different site it occupied 



