THE OOLOGIST. 



8i 



May 9 Wood Thrush, three fresh eggs. 

 Catbird, one fresh egg. 



May 11— Summer Yellowbird, four fresh 

 eggs. 



May 16 — Indigo Bunting, two fresh eggs. 

 Yellow Breasted Chat, two nests, four and 

 five eggs respectively. This bird breeds 

 abundantly, its nests being generally found 

 in thickets and blackberry bushes Orchard 

 Oriole, five, and i>ne C'owbirds. 



May 17 — Black-billed Cuckoo, 3 eggs. 

 This date is unusually early for a nest of. 

 the species, their breeding season generally 

 beginning about a month later. 



May 18 - Summer Redbird, throe fresh 

 eggs. Baltimore Oriole, tive I'ggs slightly 

 incubated. 



May 19 — Acadian Flycatclier, three fresh 

 eggs. 



IVlay 20 — House Wren, six fresh eggs. 



May 23 — Yellow-billed Cuckoo, four eggs, 

 very large embryo. Scarlet Tanager, three 

 fresh eggs. Warbling Yireo, four fresh 



Nesting of our Swallows. 



May 26 — Ruby-throated Hummingbird, 

 containing two fresh eggs. This is the first 

 nest of the species that has been known to 

 be found in five years, exceptina; one taken 

 in 1885, which the young were just leaving. 



May 27— Red-headed Woodpecker, three 

 eggs. Kingbird, four eggs. Meadow 

 Lark, five eggs. This ne.st. although the 

 first found, is much nearer the end than the 

 beginning of the breeding season of the 

 species. 



June 1 — Wood Pewee, three fresh eggs. 

 Rough-winged Swallow, six fresh eggs. 



June 6 — Bank Swallow, two eggs. 



June 7 — Gt. Crested Flycatcher, one egg 

 and three small young. The nest of this 

 bird is rarely found here, this being the 

 second nest I have any record of; the other 

 being discovered by the falling of a dog 

 wood snag and its contents thus destroyed. 



July 8 — American Goldfinch, two nests 

 containing four and five eggs resjiectively, 

 and both situated in ornamental maple 

 trees. 



The nests cited above are the first of the 

 species that were discovered, and as a rule 

 indicate the beginning of the breeding sea- 

 son of the species. 



H. A. Koch. 



The following descriptions are taken 

 from Davie's " Egg Check List and Key to 

 the Nests and Eggs of North American 

 Birds:" 



ir)2. Purple Martin— PKOCNKsrHis. Pure 

 glossy white, oblong oval, ()ointed at one 

 end, and measure from .95 to 1. in length 

 by .08 in width; the eggs are from four to 

 six in number. The Martin, conspicuous 

 for its striking color and screaming crack- 

 ling noise, breeds throughout its United 

 States range. It originally built in hollow 

 trees, and some of the " old fogies" do yet, 

 but those who find suitable nesting places 

 in eaves and cornices of biuldings or in 

 boxes prepared for their use, are tlius bred 

 to American ideas and never return to their 

 old log cabins in the air. This jolly fellow 

 who puts life into the quiet streets of coun- 

 try towns, and large cities, also, by his 

 noise and activity, constructs a nest out of 

 anything that is handy, leaves, twigs, 

 .straws, bits of string rags and paper. 



Hab. North America. 



153. Cliflf Swallow — petrochelidon 

 LUNiFRONS. White, marked with dots, 

 blotches and points of reddish-brown, chiefly 

 about the larger end, less elongated than 

 those of the Barn Swallow, but the markings 

 of the two are hardly distinguishable; on 

 an average, the eggs in size are a trifle 

 larger; four to five and sometimes six in 

 number. The " Republicans," as they are 

 sometimes called, or Eave Swallows, are 

 known to occur nearly throughout North 

 America, and to breed from Pennsylvania 

 to the Arctic and from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific. As the name implies, and as al- 

 most every one knows, this bird fixes its 

 queer bottle-shaped nest to the perpendicu- 

 lar faces of rocks and hard embankments, 

 also on the walls of houses and under shel- 

 ter of the eaves. The nests are not always 

 retort or fiask-shaped, some nests have no 

 necks, and the degree of perfection in style 

 depends upon circumstances. The nests 

 are made entirely of uuid, tempered by the 

 bill of the bird. " The nest is well lined with 

 straw, wool and feathers They are always 

 foimd in colonies during the breeding sea- 

 son. 



Hal). Nortli Aiu(,Tkui at large. 



154. Barn Swallow^ — uiri:ndo kkyturo- 

 GASTRA. White, marked with spots and 

 blotches of bright reddish-brown, chiefly at 

 the larger end; they are three to five or six 

 in numl)er and appear rather narrow for 

 their length; size .68 to .78 in length by .50 

 to .56 broad. The well-known nest of 

 pellets of mud, lined with hay and often 



