The OoLOGisT. 



Vol. XXIV. No. 11. 



Albion, N. Y. Nov., 1907. 



Whole No. 244 



THE OOLOGIST, 



A Monthly Publication Devoted to 

 OOLOGY, ORNITHOLOGY AND TAXI- 

 DERMY. 

 FKANK H. LATTIK, PubUther, 

 ALBION, N, Y. 

 EBKEST H. SEOKT, Editor and Managez. 

 Correspondence and items of interest to the 

 >3tDdent of Birds, their Nests and Eggs, solicited 

 from all. 



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ERNEST H. SHORT, Editor and Manager, 

 Chill, Monroe Co.. N. Y. 



Can Birds Distinguish Their Own 

 Eggs. 



In the August number of the "Oolo- 

 gist" I noticed with much interest 

 the paper by Mr. Burgess on a num- 

 ber of field experiments on birds, in 

 regard to the power of the individual 



to distinguish her eggs from those of 

 another species. I have for years 

 past been interestd in this same sub- 

 ject and have noticed some very 

 strong things in the power of some 

 birds being a'ble to tell' the individual 

 eggs and some birds that seemed to 

 know no difference whatever in one 

 egg from another. 



We all know about the Cowbirds 

 and the English Cuckoo's parastic 

 habit of depending upon the efforts 

 of another species to hatch and bring 

 up their young and how the Yellow 

 Warbler will sometimes, when the 

 Cowbird's egg is laid before her own, 

 build a second nest aibove and attach- 

 ed to the first in order to get rid of 

 the intruding egg, and at other times 

 be able to kick it out of the nest rath- 

 er than incubate it. This of course is 

 a natural condition, with a bird when 

 hatched all ready to be able to ac- 

 cept food given it by its foster par- 

 ent. But the strange thing to me is 

 why a bird in some species can neith- 

 er distinguish weight, shape or color, 

 as is very well shown by the experi- 

 ments of Mr. Burgess. 



This year I tried putting two robins 

 (merula migratoria) in a kingbird's 

 I tyrannus tyrannus) nest which al- 

 ready had two eggs. This as may be 

 seen a case of a tyrannidae hatching 

 eggs of a species of turdidae, two 

 widely separated species. The king- 

 bird flew back to the nest in a few 

 moments and without noticing the 

 changed color and the nest being 

 more filled with eggs settled down 

 and began to incubate apparently per- 

 fectly contented. 



