Feb. 1888.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



21 



Also sets of tliivc well advanced in incubation 

 on the 24tli and 28th of May respectively. 



A majority of sets taken in the spring of ISSG 

 contained three eggs, while those of ISS" had 

 with few exceptions, hut two eggs, but in the 

 two seasons, more s<'ts of thi-ce than of any 

 other number were taken. 



Tira is a good set, and frecpicMtly Imt one egg 

 makes \i\> the comiilement. The time to expect 

 eggs in tliis region is during the latter Iialf of 

 May, wlieu the leaves begin to thicken tin- tree 

 tops. 



One nest which I secured, and among the 

 first, was especially interesting. After traaip- 

 ing through a tangle of tree tops and upturned 

 mots, thicket? and swamps, 1 came into the 

 open woods along I'elican River, where its 

 waters bound along over huge boulders, and 

 under and among fallen tree trunks which lii' 

 across its narrow bed, and where the low blufl's, 

 clad with giant trees, close in upon it, as it is 

 hastening on its way to Floyd Lake. While eat- 

 ing my dinner, a uest of some species of hawk 

 was seen not far away, which proved to belong 

 to a pair of Broad-Wings. But they had chosen 

 a romantii' home and one hard to reach, and on 

 the other side of the stream. An elm tree grew 

 on the side of a stcci) bluff. an<l one of the 

 branches drooped over the river, about thirty 

 feet from tlie water. With little difliculty I 

 crossed, on a fallen log, and made the ascent 

 to the branch on whidi the nest was placed, 

 and by hard climbing and at the risk of life and 

 limb, secured the set of eggs, which, with the 

 adventure, was at that time ample reward for a 

 toilsome day's work. 



As Mr. Norris lias very accurately described 

 the eggs of the present si)ecies in a former 

 number of the (). & ()., there is no neetl to at- 

 tempt it here. When the Broad-Wing takes his 

 Journey to the wilderness of the North, I may 

 follow him again, or never, yet, many pleasing 

 memories will remain of his familiar ways and 

 modest habits. 



[Of a series of seventeen sets of eggs of this 

 species before the present writer, there are ten 

 sets of two eggs, six of three, and one of four, 

 the latter being the one referred to by Mr. Pres- 

 ton above. Nine sets came from Minnesota, 

 three from Mississip])!, four from reimsylvania, 

 and one from Massachusetts. 



There are two types of coloration observable 

 in this series. Of the forty-two eggs contained 

 in the seventeen sets, twenty-four of them 

 have markings of very subdued tints, ranging 

 from pearl-gray, through lavender-gray anil 

 lilac-gray, to ecru drab, on a faint yellowish, or 



bluish-white ground color. These tints have, in 

 many instances, the appearance of being under 

 the shell, and are present in specks, spots and 

 blotches. The remaining eighteen eggs are 

 marked with .spots and blotches of fawn color, 

 russet, walnut brown, burnt umber and chest- 

 nut, also on a faint yellowish or bluish-white 

 ground color. These latter ones are the bril- 

 liant specimens. 



Both types are beautiful, and it is dilHcult to 

 say which is the handsomer. And a set will not 

 always coTitain all eggs of one type of color- 

 ation. On the contrary, the grays will gener- 

 ally be present on one of the eggs which be- 

 longs to a set of brilliantly marked ones. 



As to size, 1 wish to reiterate what I said in 

 The OiiMTiioLOiasT ani> Oologist for Jan- 

 uary, 18S7 (vol. XII, p. 9). No work that I am 

 acquaint<'d with, (except Hidgway"s new 3Ian- 

 nal (if Ntirth American Birds) ^ j^Xvcn the correct 

 size of the eggs of this species. The latter 

 book states that the size is '• 1.93x1. 50,'" and 

 that is probably a fair average, although most of 

 the sets in the series before me will measure 

 even less. 1.90x1.54, would probably be nearer 

 the size, and some of them are much smaller. 



Mr. Preston is undoubtedly correct in what 

 he says about the number of eggs this bird 

 lays. Four is probably exceptional, and two or 

 three is the full nund)er. — J. P. N.] 



Nesting of the Brown-headed 

 Nuthatch in South CaroHna. 



BY AKTlll K T. W.WNK, CIIAKLKSTON, S. (' 



This article is based on the observations upon 

 this species at Yemassee, 8. C, where it is 

 one of the commonest birds that is found there. 

 It is, of course, resident. 



The Brown-headed Nuthatch {Sitta pusilla), 

 pairs in the latter part of .January, and they at 

 once begin to excavate a hole in a dead stump 

 or limb of a tree, usually not more than a few 

 feet or inches from the ground, but again as 

 high as forty or titty feet, in all such positions 

 I have found tiK'ir nests. Both sexes help each 

 other in prejjaring a hole for their nests, while 

 one is hard at work, the other is near at hand 

 urging the one at work with its sweet plaintive 

 notes. When one gets tired, the other imme- 

 diately takes its place. They are the most in- 

 dustrious little birds- I can think of. I have 

 seen them actually at work for three weeks, try- 

 ing to excavate a hole in a half decayed pine 



