56 



THE OOLOGIST 



rough look en the outside but very 

 compact inside. It is lined with pine 

 needles and dead moss, which close- 

 ly resembles horse hair, and if luck 

 is on your side you will see eggs rest- 

 ing in the nest, which will repay you 

 for the hard time you have had wad- 

 ing through the water and fighting 

 the mosquitoes that always infest the 

 swamp. During the twenty years I 

 have been collecting eggs of this spe- 

 cie and several other sets collected by 

 the late Geo. Noble and Dr. Chas. Du 

 Pont, making a total of 54 sets, only 

 four had 4 eggs, so that 3 seems to be 

 the usual number, and at times only 

 two with incubation far advanced. I 

 have never seen but one spotted set 

 and that is now in my collection, pre- 

 sented to me by the late Dr. Du Pont. 

 The spots are rather faint reddish 

 in color and chiefly on the large ends. 

 Thus leaving little doubt in my mind 

 that white eggs are the true color. 

 The female is a very close sitter, al- 

 lowing you to almost take her from 

 the nest, and at last when driven off 

 it is with difficulty that you can shoot 

 them, as they keep so close to the un- 

 der-growth, and all the time in great 

 distress, beating the ground with its 

 wings and trying all the while to lead 

 you away. Now, if you want to se- 

 cure the bird for a specimen, it is 

 right here that patience becomes a 

 virtue, for it will be some time be- 

 fore you will see her lady-ship again, 

 and then the only warning you will 

 have is a slight chirp, repeated at 

 intervals, and by close watching you 

 will see her creeping back on the 

 ground until directly under the nest 

 before she flies to it. I remember on 

 one occasion while standing in water 

 knee deep to see a Swainson fly to a 

 certain bush several times and becom- 

 ing so interested in its movements 

 that I soon forgot my surroundings 

 but I was soon brought to my senses 



by hearing a swish and looking down 

 I saw a water moccasin. He missed 

 me, but I was more fortunate as my 

 collecting gun soon had him where 

 he was out of the way or doing harm. 

 As I had remarked the bush where 

 I had seen the Swainson going I went 

 over expecting to find a nest being 

 constructed, but instead I found a fe- 

 male sitting on three incubated eggs 

 and the made had been feeding her. 

 They are very sociable, as you will 

 find several jjair breeding together 

 (and here let me say nine times out 

 of ten that by close hunting you will 

 find the nest of the Hooded Warbler 

 as they are always near by) in quite 

 a small space. They do not always 

 breed in swamps or over running wat- 

 er, as some writers claim, as I have 

 found them in Myrtle bushes fully a 

 mile from any water. They seem to 

 prefer canes to any other place, but 

 you will find them in Gall bushes, 

 Vines and Palmettos. The photo of 

 the nest and eggs that accompany this 

 article was taken this season (by W. 

 J. Hoxie) it only contained two eggs, 

 so far incubated that I left them, 

 thinking I would go back and get a 

 chance to photograph the young, but 

 work prevented. It seems they get 

 scarcer every year, as I only took two 

 sets last season and one this, although 

 conditions are still the same as in the 

 years that have passed. They will of- 

 ten build a nest and then desert it as 

 last season I saw several that were 

 ready for eggs, but when I revisited 

 the nest I found them in the same con- 

 dition, still empty. Why they do this 

 I am unable to say. They commence 

 to build the latter part of April, as 

 I have taken eggs by the 7th of May 

 and as late as July 13th. So I think 

 they must rear two broods during the 

 season. 



European Birds in June Oologist. 



