THE OOLOGIST. 



39 



12th. Nest fifteen feet from the 

 ground, composed of sticks, lining not 

 specified. Size of eggs, 1.63x1.34 and 

 1.55x1.30. Incubation fresh. A very 

 pretty set. One egg was checked and 

 mended again before it was deposited 

 by the bird. I have noted eggs of 

 Sandhill Crane and Brown Pelican 

 that exhibited this evidenceof nature's 

 mending. The former had been broken 

 entirely around he center and firmly 

 joined without leaving any ridge on 

 shell. In the case of this egg of 

 Mississippi Kite it was a simple 

 radiated dent, which was healed by an 

 extra deposit c shell, leaving a net- 

 work of fine lines showing. 



The average size of the twenty-two 

 eggs is 1.59x1.32. Davie's average, 

 (10 specimens), 1.64x1.28. Coues Key 

 gives average as 1.65x1.35; rather too 

 large, but giving a better idea of the 

 rounded oval shape than Davie's size, 

 which is too slender. In common 

 with all normal eggs of this bird they 

 are white, with a greenish tint, caused 

 by the inner shelltint showing through. 

 Hold one of these eggs up to the light 

 and the inner shell shows as a deli- 

 cate pea green. Nearly all the eggs 

 show stains from lying on green, wilt- 

 ing leaves. 



While Mr. Stevens does not note any 

 green leaves in nest No. 9, nor does 

 Mr. Rutledge speak of them in nest 

 No. 15, still the eggs in both cases 

 show the stains plainly, indicating 

 that they had certainly lain on green 

 leaves at some time. This habit of 

 lining the nests with green leaves 

 seems to be practically confined to this 

 bird, among our American Avifauna. 

 The Cuckoos sometimes use a few 

 green leaves with their catkins when 

 they complete their nest, but these 

 soon dry up and I have never seen any 

 evidence of their replacing them. 



Mr. Stevens' records indicate what I 

 have seen stated as probable by other 

 authorities— that the Mississippi Kite 



constantly renews these leaves, and 

 thus keeps fresh ones in the nest all 

 the time. He found leaves under 

 incubated eggs to be as fresh as those 

 under freshly laid eggs 



These i-ecords do not indicate a tend- 

 ency to pick out lofty nesting sites 

 like the White-tailed and Swallow- 

 tailed Kites prefer. Instead of.finding 

 them in the tops of trees forty feet or 

 more from the ground his nests only 

 averaged twenty-one feet from the 

 ground, and if we leave out Nos. 7 and 

 8 we have an average of eighteen and 

 one-half feet for thirteen nests. Full 

 sets are said to be two or three eggs. 



There is a record, quoted by Mr. 

 Davie, of a set of three taken by Mr. J. 

 A. Singley in Lee County, Texas, 

 many years ago. This will have to 

 stand as very rare. I have never seen 

 a set of three. Mr. Stevens states that 

 one-half of all the nests he finds never 

 contain but a single egg, and that he 

 has repeatedly allowed them to hatch 

 out sets of one and found nests contain- 

 ing one young on many occasions. I 

 think it should be one or two eggs, 

 rarely three. 



We would expect the largest eggs to 

 occur in the sets of one, but the oppo- 

 site proves to be the case. Only one 

 of the single eggs approaches the sizes 

 indicated by the pairs. 



Erxest H. Short. 



The Black-Throated Green Warbler 

 Summer. 



It has never been the portion of the 

 writer to reside or to make observations 

 within the territory wherein Dendroica 

 virens is to be commonly found as a 

 summer resident, and therefore these 

 brief notes pertain to the Black-throat- 

 ed Green Warbler in summer in locali- 

 ties where it is not accredited with 

 being commonly found at that season. 



I have never found this Warbler's 

 nest, nor have I diligently sought it ; 

 but the bird itself I have observed in 



