348 BULLETIN 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



preserved previous year's nest measured about 24 inches across and 

 10 inches deep. The nest is usually built in an ebony tree, but some- 

 times in a mesquite or other tree, and usually between 5 and 15 feet 

 above the ground, occasionally as high as 25 feet or as low as 2 feet 

 but never in a hollow tree. He says that he has seen at least 1,000 

 nests, and that the nest is usually near the edge of the chaparral and 

 near a resaca, never more than 200 yards from water and always 

 near a supply of the berries on which the birds feed their young. 

 The nest is generally built out on a limb, but sometimes in a crotch 

 or where the limb of a tree is interlaced with vines. 



There are two sets of eggs in Col. John E. Thayer's collection, 

 said to have been taken from nests on the ground ; one was " in a 

 cane brake, composed of grass, weeds, and other litter," and the 

 other was "on the ground among heavy grass." These were taken 

 for Thomas H. Jackson, probably by Frank B. Armstrong or his 

 Mexican collectors, who were known to be careless in the make-up 

 of sets and data. Messrs. Farmer and Camp do not mention any 

 ground nests, and George B. Sennett (1878) says: 



The nest of this species is never found on the ground, but in trees and 

 bushes varying in height from four to ten feet. The structure varies in compo- 

 sition and size according to its location. If it is in a large fork close to the 

 body of the tree, a few sticks, grasses, and leaves are sufficient, and the struc- 

 ture will not equal in size or strength that of a Mockingbird. This small 

 size is by far the most frequent, but I have a nest built upon a fork of two 

 small branches, composed entirely of Spanish moss. It is bulky and flat, being 

 a foot in diameter and four inches deep, with a depression four inches wide and 

 two deep. 



Major Bendire (1892) quotes J. A. Singley as saying: 



All the nests I found were in mesquite stubs, where the limbs had been cut 

 off to make brush fences. These limbs are never cut close to the tree and, 

 being close together, form a cavity ; leaves and twigs will fall in this and 

 accumulate, and the bird occupies it as a nesting site. I did not find a nest 

 that I could say was built by the bird. When the nest is approached the bird 

 quietly flies off, rarely remaining in sight, and soon calls up its mate. 



Eggs. — Mr. Farmer says that in his experience the eggs have been 

 invariably three in number, and most of the other observers say 

 three or rarely two. The larger sets in Mr. Jackson's collection 

 probably came from Armstrong and may be made-up sets, though 

 perhaps sets of four occasionally occur. The eggs of the chachalaca 

 are ovate, short ovate, or elongate ovate. The shell is thick, tough, 

 and roughly granulated. The color is pale creamy white or dull 

 white. The measurements of 56 eggs average 58.4 by 40.9 milli- 

 meters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 65.5 by 47, 53.3 

 by 40.6, and 58.2 by 37.6 millimeters. 



Young. — Mr. Farmer has hatched a number of eggs under hens 

 and found that 22 days was the longest period of incubation. He 



