The OoLOGiST. 



VOL. X, 



ALBION. N. y., MAR., 1893. 



NO. 3 



Chat and Cliff Swallow. 



The llirifty backwoods hoiisewitc, 

 when she has a few apples aud a few 

 curiants, contrives to make a pie by 

 eonibininfT till' two. lic.uler.e. will you 

 liave a slice of Chat-Swallow j'JiV. 



A late writer in the "O," states: that 



although tlie Yelhiw-breasted. Chat is 



very abund;iut in her locality', she has 



never yet discovered the ne>t. I don't 



Avonder. For two y<Mis 1 searched 



faithfully the dense ei)p.;es along the 



Neosho Rixer iu Eastern Kansas for 



nests of the noi.sy anil uhiquitous Chat. 



The second jfar, I found two. The 



lirst was in -i dense bush close against 



I ii leavy osage hedge; aud about three 



I feet up. Contents: three newly Hedged 



; y >ung and one handsomely sj)otte(l egg. 



The nest was found b}' accident, puivly. 



Nest number two was seated in the 



sparse top of a scrawny Imsh, six feet up 



the bush standingquite alone in an open 



woodland beside the river. « 



Father Chat was guarding th.'. lui-t 

 and its contents, — a swarm of .ints, — 

 with jealous wrath. Hence the discov- 

 ery., This location was a. \ri-y unusu.il 

 one. 



Iu IS'.M. I found many iu*-ts. ("on- 

 uerning these. I will let uiy Field Hook 

 tell its raud)ling story. 



I — May 29, Nest, of sticks and leaves, 

 lined with rootlets. Tn dense copse 

 near water, a low bush. One egg, 

 aiul three Cowbird <'ggs. Incuba- 

 tion advanced. 

 II— June 1, Nest, among black-berry 

 vines in orchard, one foot up, of 

 .stems and gi'asses, lined with line 

 gc.isses. Four eggs, and one of 

 Cowbird. Fresh. 

 Ill — June 1. I. est, iu dense (jSage 



hedge, border of orchard, three feet 

 up as above. Three eggs and one 

 of Cowbird. Fresh. 

 IV— June 5, nest, in bush and vine, 

 standing alone in clearing, three 

 feet up, a line typical specimen. 

 Four eggs aud one of Cowbird. 

 Fresh 

 V— June 12, N(st, three feet up, in a 

 hazel cop.se. Flim."*}', of leaves and 

 grass.. Deserted. Three eggs and 

 one of Cowbird. One egg in nest, 

 two on ground, one partly eaten, 

 and the Cowbird egg also partly de- 

 stroyed, on the ground. 

 Other nests, found, were deserted. 

 Some contaiuetl an egg or two, but 

 most MCI e eminy. These observations 

 gfve the following data: 



The typic;il nest of the Yellow-breast- 

 ed Chat is large and broadly cupped, 

 like a Cardinal's nest but deeper. Ma- 

 terials, externally, (joarse stems, leaves, 

 paper, sticks; seeonn layer, leaves, flat- 

 ly laid. Lining sparse, line grasses, in 

 one iuslance a little horsehair. Loca- 

 lion, ofcuerally about thi-ee feet up in a 

 \eiiicai crotch or among dense branch- 

 lets. Almost invariably w;e// concealed. 

 Where available, "vine-tangles'' seem to 

 be |)ieferred to any other location. 



Locality, the thickest copses to be 

 found ue:i'- wooded streams. Kansas 

 nesting Date, tiist three weeks in June. 

 Eggs uorm:illy dull crystalline white, 

 speckled linelj' with cinnamon. The 

 specks are often assembled about the 

 large end of the egg. One specimen, 

 found on the ground undei' a deserted 

 nest, is rosy tinted. and exquisitely mar- 

 bled with cinnamon . 



The Chat is an especial victim of the 

 Cowbird. Consitlering the well-hidden 

 location of the nest, is this not strange v 



