June 1888.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



91 



oak buslies anil I'ulliiii; lOollmUls at nearly 

 every sti-p. TIi<^ <;'''"J"^' ■'' very loose in many 

 places anil hard to ^fl a footini; on. 



Nest No. 1 \v;is a now nesl. pl.ii'i'il in a larjje 

 pine trei', which ovcihiing a ilei'p and locky 

 canon. It wa-; dan^fi-ous to cliinh this tree, so 

 I left il, altlKJUjjh I saw the Ka>;le leave the 

 nest. This nest was lirst notieeil on March TJ, 

 1S87. 



Nest No. 2 was a hulky stiiutiire, eoniposeil 

 of large ilry .sticks of the forest, of oaks, syca- 

 niorcs, etc. It was iji a larjjc live oak, abont 

 seventj' feet from tlie groinul, and contained 

 three eggs. Two of the eggs were spotted 

 with red-brown blotches, while tlie other was a 

 dirty white colcjr without, spots. The eggs 

 were badly incubated. 



Nest Xo. ;f was in a live oak, about thirty feet 

 from ground. Tlie nest was as large as any I 

 saw (for I found several deserted nests the 

 week before), composed of dry sticks and 

 lined with straw. This nest was first found on 

 March 12, 1887, and had one egg. On March 

 19, it still liad only one egg, so I concluded it 

 was all the bird was going to hiy. I think this 

 nest must have been three feet thick, and it was 

 certainly large eiKuigh for a man to get into. 



While at the nest, I rested my whole weight 

 (140 pounds), on it, having no other supnort. 

 The Kagle was very tame, and did not tly till I 

 was within ten feet of the nest. This Eagle 

 builds in these mountains, and in the same nest 

 year after year. Their nests seem to be equally 

 distributed in sycamores, pines, and oaks. The 

 structure in all the nests I saw, five in all, was 

 bulky and very strongly placed in the branches. 

 I never heard this Eagle make a noise on being 

 disturbed, and only in one case did the bird re- 

 turn to the nest while I wns at the tree. 



The Rough-Winged Swallow. 



[Scil IsliUul Notes.] 



iiv WAi.ii;i; iioxiu. 



Among the Sea Islands, the Kough-wingcd 

 Swallow finds very convenient breeding places, 

 and is a very regiilai resident, though his 

 Spring arrival is somewhat of a movable feast, 

 varying as my record shows, between the 21st 

 of March ,ind the sih of .May. If his cousin, 

 the |{;ink Swallow, ever accompanii'S him, he 

 certaiidy does not come to stay, and has never 

 yet introduced himself to me. 



As soon as they get home, the Hough-wings 

 begin to inspect their nesting sites. They 



scratch little hollows in the side of a sand- 

 blulT, and then sit around on convenient sticks 

 and indulge in lively discussion regarding the 

 merits of the locality. This ))rospecting work 

 lasts but a few days or a wi'ck at most, and the 

 real work of excavating the ,~iiljlcrranc.in 

 dwelling soon begins, and seems to be ipiilc a 

 laborious process, oceu|iying three to tour 

 weeks. The eggs are four or five in number, 

 oftener less than more, and average a lit lie 

 over three-fourths of an inch in lengtli. 



A detailed accoiinl of the nesting of .i pair 

 I have watched carefully Ibis Spring, will il- 

 lustrate suHici<'nlly well the above general 

 statemi'iit. 



On tlic fourlh of April. I found signs of 

 scratching in a sand-blulf near my house, and 

 a pair of Itough-wings were seen near tlie place. 

 On the ninth, the hide was begun, the excava- 

 tion being then something less than six inches. 

 Work continued till the 21st. when a few grass 

 roots were seen at the farther end. The meas- 

 urements at this time were: depth, 18 inches; 

 width, 4 1-2 inches, contracting at the end to 

 :i 1-2 inches; height, 2 .")-8 inches. On the eighth 

 of May, a set of these eggs w^as taken. Incu- 

 bation begun. The nest was composed of grass 

 roots (Joint grass), and for a subterranean 

 structure was very compactly coMstructed. 

 The front was well raised, being an inch and 

 five-eighths high, but there was no back to 

 speak of; inside diameter, 2 .i-S inches. The 

 shape was thus very similar to a nest of the 

 Climbing Swift. 



As a study of " capacities," I subjoin the 

 measurements of this set and their cubic con- 

 tents both by weight and by measure. 



No. 1. .81 X .51 in. ; capacity by weight, i:! 

 inches; by measure, 14 inches; No. 2. .81) x ..53 

 inches; ctipacity by weight. .17 inches; by 

 measure, 16 inches; No. .'J. .80 x .53 inches; 

 capacity by w-eight, .14 inches; by measure, .14 

 inches. 



Finding a Turkey Buzzard's Nest. 



BV C. S. IIKIMIJ'.I , liAl.lai^ll, \. C. 



In the early morning of May 20, 1887, I 

 started out to investigate a good-sized tract of 

 woods whicb I b:hl always looked upon as be- 

 ing in all probaliility the favorite breeding 

 grounds id warblers and all other birds; the 

 land, however, being strictly ■■posted" and 

 near to the ow'uer's house, I bad never c.ired to 

 collect there, not wanting to get into trouble 



