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X- Vol. IV. 



Things Oological. 



oioqi 



JULY, 1878. 



No. 5. 



BY W. H. BALLOU. 



KUSTY BlA('KBI1!D 



^y , . 



IIE opening ai'ticle of Field tind For- 

 est for March, entitled "■The Natu- 

 ral history of the Islands of Lake E- 

 rie," contributed by myself, contains a state- 

 ment that seems to call ibr some explana- 

 tion. Among the birds noted as known 

 to bi'ced on the islands, is the Rusty Black- 

 bird. It may be a matter of some surprise 

 that this announcement, so importiint in it- 

 self, should not have been made public be- 

 ibre, as the taking of the eggs of this bird 

 on one of the islands indicated, occurred in 

 •lutie, '7(5. The article in question was 

 contributed some tive or six months ago, 

 which at least cancels nearly half a year 

 of the responsibility. It may also be prop- 

 er to state further, that a press of other 

 matter rendered an earlier announcement 

 of the fact impracticable. 



Happening one day iu a gi-ove on JNliddle 

 Island of the Put-in-Bay grouj), I was at- 

 tracted by the noise of some birds quarrel- 

 ing. An examination showed that some 

 Pur|)le Grackles were endeavoring to drive 

 the Kusty Blackbirds I'rom tiieir nest to ob- 

 tain the eggs, but as I thought at the time, 

 rice oerna. But my presence seemed to 

 frighten the Purple Gi'ackles away, and 

 the Rustics retin'ued to the nest. The nest 

 was placed in a small evergreen some fif- 

 teen feet high, and was nolliing more than 

 an old Thrush's nest. There were three 

 eggs in it. one of which 1 broke ; the oth- 

 ers are still in my posses'sion. They do not 

 ditfer mateiially from the general run of 

 their kind, except that they are heavily 



blotched, rather than marked. This bird 



has formei-ly* been known to breed " from 

 Northern Maine to the Arctic Circle." 



Bell's Viueo. 



The discovery of a nest of Vireo Bdlii 

 on the campus of the North Western Uni- 

 versity is a matter of no little interest to 

 ; me. Immediately on noting this bird as a 

 resident of the campus, I watched it care- 

 fully until 1 discovered its nest some twen- 

 ty leet up a large oak, on a small limb and 

 iu a most exposed position. There were 

 young birds in the nest, and 1 concluded to 

 leave it alone and await a second laying of 

 eggs. The heavy storms of July 2 and 8, 

 however, killed the young birds. I took 

 the nest, which does not ditfer materially 

 from that of the commou Vireo, except that 

 it is snuiller. As I was leaving tlie tree 

 iu a kind of despair at the prospect of a sec- 

 ond laying being thus cut off, I heard the 

 bird's peculiar scpieal, and following it, a 

 hundred yards away I found them building 

 a new nest in an accessible position some 

 forty feet frona the ground ; so I may yet 

 obtain their eggs. 



To Rkmovk iiakdknkd Yolks, &c. 



Eggs are often obtained in which the con- 

 tents have become hardened. The extract- 

 ing of this substance so as not to spoil the 

 shell, has become an accomplished fact af- 

 ter a few chemical experiments. The pro- 

 cess I found to be more simple than I had 

 anticipated. It consists in introducing car- 

 bonate of soda and water through the drill- 

 ed aperture. The soda is dissolved by the 

 water and foi-ms a lye. This lye converts 

 the contents of the shell into soap, which 



*We would nifer our corresi)ondeiit to page 

 ;^7, No. 5, Vol. I. of this jounial for farther 

 evidence of the nesting of this bird. 



