134 BULLETIN 19 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



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One tree, about 12 or 15 feet liigli, across the street from liis house, 

 always had a nest in it every season, and in 1924 one was built and 

 the young raised by mid- April. On June 22 another nest was built 

 in the same tree about 5 feet from the first one (same pair of birds 

 doubtless), which was still in excellent condition. H. K. Job visited 

 the writer while the first nest was in use and photographed it. 



In the nortliern rim of its range (eastern Xorth Carolina) the log- 

 gerhead nests noticeably later than elsewhere. T. Gilbert Pearson 

 and the Brimleys (1942) list fresh eggs as having been found in Co- 

 lumbus County on May 6, in Bladen County, May 7, completed nests 

 but no eggs. At the same date, however, young just out of the nest 

 were seen ! Probably late April would be normal for many breeding 

 pairs, just about one month later than South Carolina birds. Again, 

 at the western terminus of its range the loggerhead is late. Dr. H. C. 

 Oberholser (1938) states that "it breeds in Louisiana from April to 

 June, and there is record of eggs as early as April 16." If the latter 

 is an early date for Louisiana it is obvious that the loggerhead is far 

 behind its eastern dates in its western home. 



Tlie nest itself is built at medium elevations, never very high and 

 seldom close to the ground ; 8 to 15 feet is normal. It picks out heavily 

 twigged growth, though its early habits often reveal the nest to any 

 observer as it is completed before the leaves come out. Young oaks 

 are favorites, and these, of course, retain their leaves. Such trees 

 are widely used in coastal South Carolina, and the species often nests 

 in towns and cities, even on streets carrying considerable traffic. 



The loggerhead is a good architect and builder. Though somewhat 

 bulky, the nest is well made and lasts long after its usefulness is over. 

 The materials are usually thick twigs, firmly woven and lined with 

 rootlets or fibers and, in the rural sections, often padded with cotton. 

 The latter is a characteristic item among a varied range of material. 

 Others are string (often used), feathers of various kinds, hair, pal- 

 metto fiber, weeds, small sticks, grass, "rabbit-tobacco" (everlasting), 

 rags, and occasionally paper. M. G. Vaiden, of Eosedale, Miss. (MS.) , 

 once found a piece of blue bottle glass in a nest ! 



Both sexes work on the nest and ver}'^ assiduously. Incubation con- 

 sumes 10 to 12 days, and both male and female engage in the duty. 

 S. A. Grimes (1928) gives 14 days for incubation. 



E. K. Ford (1936) gives an account of an unusual nesting site with 

 regard to elevation, which he found at Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on 

 March 5. Tlie birds began building that day "on one of the lower 

 branches of a long-leafed yellow pine. The site was a little more 

 than fifty feet from the ground. * * * Except on one occasion, 

 I had never seen the nest of any Shrike more than eight or ten feet 

 up, [and] I made it a point to observe this one particularly." This 

 height is very abnormal and can be considered the extreme. 



