202 



THE OOLOGIST. 



having found a nest containing young 

 at this season of the year. 



My opinion is that the birds would 

 have subsequently abandoned the 

 nest leaving the eggs or young, what- 

 ever it may have contained at the time 

 of desertion to their fate, for it would 

 have been impossible for them to pro- 

 cure enough food for the substenance 

 fo their own and the lives of their 

 young. 



The White-rumped Shrike in Eastern 

 New York. 



On May 18, 1902, while out walking, 

 I came upon a nest, situated in a thorn 

 apple tree, and as the bird which left 

 the nest was new to me, I lost no time 

 in climbing up and examining it. 

 The nest contained five young birds 

 about half-fledged and so I left, but 

 being over in that locality on June 3rd, 

 I looked into the nest and was greatly 

 delighted to find three fresh eggs 

 which I took. I got quite close to the 

 birds which I thought might be White- 

 rump shrikes. They were extremely 

 bold, approaching quite near to my 

 head and making a queer, snapping 

 sound with their bills. This noise 

 could be heard a long distance off and 

 was made as often on the wing as 

 when the bird was at rest. Occasion- 

 ally they varied this with a cry close- 

 ly resembling the call of a catbird. 

 Finally both flew away and did not 

 show up again that day. On May 7, 

 1903, I happened to visit the locality 

 and upon going to the old nest, was 

 surprised to find that the bird had re- 

 paired it and laid five eggs which were 

 about one-half incubated. I took four 

 leaving the other as a nest egg to 

 #make them lay a second set but was 

 disapointed, as the egg disappeared. 

 I told a friend about the disappearance 

 of this egg and he suggested that the 

 bird ate it. Any way this bird left the 

 locality, and did not come back to it 



again. On May 1, 1904, while over in 

 the country, some three miles from 

 the old nest, I came upon another pair 

 of White-rumps, and a short search re- 

 vealed the nest, just ready for the eggs, 

 placed in a pine tree about ten feet up, 

 and well concealed. I went over to the 

 nest on May 7th, but it was empty. 

 The birds were around and so I knew 

 that the nest was not deserted. On 

 May 13th, I went over and found that 

 the nest contained six eggs. These I 

 took together with the nest. A couple 

 of weeks later, a pair of Kingbirds 

 built a nest in the same tree and at 

 present, have young. But to return to 

 the White-rumps. On May 16th, on 

 going over there, I found another nest 

 containing one fresh egg which I left. 

 The same pair of birds had built a 

 nest, a beauty, and laid an egg in three 

 days. Pretty quick work. On May 

 22nd, I went over and secured the set, 

 also of six. 



On June 1st, while looking for High- 

 holes, I chanced to strike the locality 

 again and you can imagine my sur- 

 prise at finding another nest contain- 

 ing six eggs also. I took four, leaving 

 the other two to the birds, but these 

 disappeared a couple of days later. 

 Either a boy or an animal got them or 

 else the birds ate them. Well, I went 

 over there on June 11th, and I could 

 hardly believe my eyes upon finding 

 another nest, this containing six eggs 

 also. Now, all these nests were within 

 a radius of fifty feet. This pair of 

 birds had, in forty-two days, built 

 four nests, and laid twenty-four eggs. 

 I left the last set and sincerely hope 

 that the Shrikes succeeded in raising 

 their brood. The nest was, in all 

 cases, quite bulky composed of twigs, 

 grasses, rootlets, etc., and very finely 

 lined with feathers. The eggs are, in 

 my experience, from three to six in 

 number, and are greenish grey, spot- 

 ted with light brown, olive and violet, 

 chiefly at the large end. 



