152 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 



(1932) says: "The Everglades, before drainage operations were begun, 

 supported an immense population, and even now. with large areas 

 drained and under cultivation, the birds breed there abundantly, as 

 also on the extensive marshes bordering the upper St. Johns and 

 Kissimmee Rivers." 



Nesting. — Howell (1932) says: "A number of pairs are usually 

 found nesting near together, their nests being placed in small bushes 

 growing in shallow water or on marshes at a height of 1 to 8 feet above 

 the water or ground. The nests are compactly woven of the stems of 

 saw grass or similar materials and firmly bound to the bush in which 

 they are placed." 



Donald J. Nicholson, of Orlando, Fla., has sent me three sets of eggs 

 of the Florida redwing, and tells me that eggs can be found in his 

 vicinity from the last week in March until late in July. The sets all 

 consisted of three eggs each. One of the nests was 3 feet up in a 

 button wood growing in a pond; another was similarly located, 2% 

 feet up, in one of several button woods on swampy land among bunch- 

 grass and sawgrass; the third was attached to the stems of a water- 

 myrtle, 4 feet from the ground, near a pond. Another set in my 

 collection was taken in Nassau County by W. W. Worthington; the 

 nest was suspended 3 feet up among grass in a salt marsh, and held 

 four eggs. There is a set in the T. E. McMullen collection that was 

 taken from a nest in a grass field on a farm. While I was hunting 

 for gallinules' nests in a deep-water pond near Zephyrhills with Oscar 

 Baynard, we found two redwings' nests in ty-ty bushes, not far above 

 the water; the water was so deep that we had to use a boat; there was 

 a broad border of pickerel weed all around the pond, with boggy, or 

 floating islands of flags, Sagittaria, small willows, and ty-ty bushes 

 scattered over it, and with bonnets and white pond lilies in the deeper 

 parts. 



Eggs. — Three eggs seems to form the usual set for the Florida 

 redwing, but four eggs are not unusual. They are apparently similar 

 to the eggs of the species elsewhere, except for size. The measurements 

 of 50 eggs of the five southern races of this species average 23.5 by 17.1 

 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 27.7 by 17.3, 

 23.4 by 18.8, 21.3 by 16.8, and 21.8 by 15.5 millimeters. 



Howell's (1932) account of the food of the Florida redwing was 

 evidently taken from Beal's (1900) bulletin on the food of this species, 

 as quoted from under the eastern redwing; but Beal distinctly said 

 that the different subspecies were not considered separately. 



Philip A. Du Mont (1931), in his paper on the birds of Pinellas 

 County, says of the status of this race in that region: "A few are 

 permanent residents. The bulk of the breeding birds winter farther 



