76 



THE OOLOGISI 



About those Large Sets of Robins. 



Mayville, N. Y., 

 Friend Short: — 



In regard to large sets of Robin 

 of more than 4 eggs there was one set 

 of 1-0 went to Friend Lattin beside the 

 set 1-7.. I also saw a nest last season 

 1906 with 3 young and two eggs pip- 

 ped and this was within a few rods 

 of where I took the set of 5 eggs 

 altho that was several years ago. This 

 pair might have been a descendant 

 from those, as they like their old 

 places for nesting, and where a bird 

 has some peculiar mark on a few 

 white feathers so you can identify 

 you are quite likely to see them back 

 to the same old place. 



I am very resp'y, 



A. E. Kibbe. 



My Dear Mr. Short: — 



The article in the March Oologisi 

 about large sets of Robin eggs by 

 Mr. Brooks appealed to me to such 

 an extent that I desire to add my 

 testimony. I too have looked into 

 every Robin's nest discovered in the 

 hopes of finding a rare set of 5 or six 

 eggs. During twenty years of care- 

 ful observance I have been fortunate 

 enough to find but one containing 

 more than the regular number of four 

 eggs. This set containing five eggs 

 and I recorded it years ago in the 

 old Nidologist as a rare find. I have 

 had unlimited opportunities to study 

 the nesting of "Merula" because of 

 its very abundance in central Illi- 

 nois. The Robin besides being here 

 in great numbers is uncommonly do- 

 mestic. Each season they nest on our 

 porch posts and within reaching dis- 

 tance of windows, affording excellent 

 opportunities for close study. 



It is certainly a fixed habit for our 

 Robins at least to deposit but four 

 eggs, and it is only fair to add that 

 in the single case of a larger set on 



my records, I have real doubt as to 

 the fifth being a brother or sister to 

 the others. I have always been sus- 

 picious that the fifth egg might have 

 b'sen; deposited by another female 

 whose home was not quite ready for 

 occupancy, for the egg was of slight- 

 ly different form. Collectors don't 

 write to me for large Robin's eggs 

 for I cannot find them. 



Isaac E. Hess, 



Philo, 111. 



Editor Oologist: — 



In reply to the article of Mr. L. 

 Brooks of Milton, Mass., in the March 

 Oologist, I would like to say I have 

 seen only one set of more than four 

 robins eggs in all my collecting ex- 

 perience which extends over a period 

 of seventeen years. 



The robin, in this localty is by far 

 the commonest native breeder, and I 

 have examined more than a hundred 

 nests. 



On May 21, 1906, I discovered a 

 robin's nest in an orchard near a 

 farm house. It was built in a large 

 crotch of a cherry tree, 15 feet up 

 and contained five eggs, one-fourth in- 

 cubated. The eggs are smaller than 

 usual, measuring respectively: 1.04x 

 .81, 1.06X.80, 1.03X.80, 1.03x.79, 1.05x 

 .77. There is no doubt of the idenitj' 

 as I pushed the bird from the nest. 

 B. R. Bales, M. D. 

 Circleville, O. 



A Question. 



Dear Sir: — 



Last year May 12, I found a red- 

 headed woodpecker's nest containing 

 nine eggs. Five of the nine were 

 heavily incubated and the remaining 

 four were fresh. These eggs I sup- 

 pose were laid by two birds. 



Isaac Van Kamnen. 



Ans.: — Very probable. This is not 

 common with Red-head but quite so 

 with fiicker. — Ed. 



