40 



THE OOLOGIST. 



low Warbler, Cowbird and Cedar Wax- 

 wing, many of which are less than half 

 the normal size and defy identitication. 

 R.W. Johnson. 

 Port Hope, Ont. 



Eggs of Belted Piping Plover 



As I am not aware that the eggs of 

 this species has beea previously record- 

 ed, perhaps the following will be of in- 

 terest to the readers of the Oulogist. 



Mr. Oliver Spanner, Taxidermist, of 

 Toronto, after reading "Bird Nesting 

 in N. W. Canada," decided to make a 

 trip to Lake Manitoba to collect eggs 

 and skins and while there he was for- 

 tunate to take eggs and skins of the 

 Belted Piping Plover. He found a nest 

 containing three eggs on June 19, 1895, 

 at Birch Island and shot the female as 

 she left the nest and both the eggs and 

 skin are now in my collection. 



The nest consisted of a depression in 

 the sand lined with a few weeds and 

 the eggs are pale bull', finely spotted 

 with black and purple grey. At the 

 same time he secured young birds in 

 down, and also shot several specimens 

 of Solitary Sandpipers which were no 

 doubt mating in the vicinity. 



W. Raine, Toronto. 



Peculiar Nesting Sites. 



Sometimes birds select such unusual 

 sites to build their nests that we may 

 wonder why they do so when there are 

 plenty of natural sites in the locality. 

 There is a large deep guUey which runs 

 at right angles from Keuka Lake and 

 in some parts of this gulley are perpen- 

 dicular banks of slatestone but mostly 

 ■covered with large coniferous trees. 



Projecting from one of these bare 

 slatestone banks there is a narrow ledge 

 or shelf of rocks which is about 100 feet 

 from bottom of valley and 35 feet from 

 top. Above this ledge the bank is cov- 



ered with moss, ferns and shrubs, while 

 below it is bare and concave 



Jt was in the middle of May. 1889. 

 that I first noticed this shelf, and out 

 of curiosity I let myselt down upon it 

 by holding onto some firm roots which 

 protruded from the bank, when lo! I 

 discovered that I had dropped into a 

 Great Horned Owl's nest and there sat 

 a young Donwy Bubo trying his best to 

 stare me out of countenance. JNo at- 

 tempt had been made to build a nest — 

 merely a depression in the loose pieces 

 of slatestone. In a crevice near the 

 nest there was stuffed a Rutfed (xrouse 

 which was fresh and about half eaten. 



Another peculiar site was selected by 

 a pair of Chimney Swifts down in a 

 well 10 feet from top of curbi jg and the 

 nest being glued onto a smooth hard 

 stone and contained a family of five. 

 I removed the curb which: was a box 

 affair about 3 feet square and went 

 down to examine the nest. While do- 

 ing so the parents made frantic efforts 

 to reach their dusky children by diving 

 with the speed of an arrow into the 

 misplaced curb. I afterwards learned 

 that the young birds got out safely. 

 Date of finding nest July 14, 1895. 



Again on July 25, 1895, I discovered 

 another nest of Chimney Swift in the 

 garret of tiour mill where noisy cog 

 wheels and rumbling machinery keep 

 up an incessant racket. Yet these 

 plucky birds glued their nest to the 

 board siding and reared a family of 

 five. How they ever darted into the 

 small opening in the peak of mill with- 

 out getting caught in belts and cog 

 wheels is a mystery lo me. It may be 

 of interest to add that although the 

 ever-present English Sparrow enters 

 this same hole to feed on the grain 

 scattered about. They did not disturb 

 the Swifts in any manner. Nor have 

 the English Sparrows ever attempted 

 to build nests in the garret although 

 there ara thousands of them here. 

 C. F. Stone, 

 Branchport, N. Y. 



