THE 00 LOG I ST. 



43 



Oological Notes for January. 



Eggs of Bnteo pcnnaijlvaniacus. — We 

 have been a-sked a number of" times if the 

 egg of the lifoad-wiiiged Hawk represent- 

 ed in our phite is tpyical of all the eggs of 

 this bird. We would say that it is, near- 

 ly. The egg from which the figure was 

 made was one of a set of four, of which 

 two were lightly marked and one nearly 

 white. It fairly represents the majority of 

 specimens, though it may be somewhat 

 heavily nuirked. 



We must beg leave, on behalf of some 

 of our contributors, to render the generally 

 received idea that the Ground Robin nests 

 wholly upon the ground, as Mr. Gentry, 

 Dr. Cones and some others inigardedly de- 

 clare, less exclusive. That this bird often 

 does nest above the ground, a note in our 

 last number and the following will clearly 

 show : 



'' Is it not exceptional for a Che wink to 

 build her nest in a bush? While hunting 

 Woodcock at Foote's Point, fifteen miles 

 out of Cleveland, on the 20th of July, I 

 found the nest of a Red-eyed Towhee con- 

 taining three young birds and an egg, sit- 

 uated in a small bush two and one-half feet 

 above the ground ; com.posed of sticks and 

 leaves. The female was on the nest, and 

 was shot by Mr. W. li. Gaylord, who ac- 

 companied me." W. W. Sarin. 



''Among your 'Oological Notes for June,' 

 1 see a circumstance related by Mr. Holz- 

 apfel on the Fipilo erythruplitJialians. A like 

 occurrence I can testify to. While collect- 

 ing, 1 passed a clump of oak sprouts that 

 grew from a stump. I stopped, looked at 

 it a second time, and then retraced my steps. 

 Parting the thick foliage I saw a nest in 

 the first stages of construction, which I took 

 to be that of Turdns viustelinus from its 

 material, size and position. It contained 

 two eggs the second visit. On my third vis- 

 it I approached to within four feel of the 

 nest, and stood some three minutes watch- 

 ing the bird, which did not leave until my 

 hand touched the nest. I saw the bird no 



more after leaving the nest, neither did I 

 see the male. The nest was built similar 

 to that of Turdus mustelinus, yet being 

 placed a trifle high* for them ; this was 

 four feet or more from the ground, while 

 the Wood Thrush here rarely places its nest 

 higher than a foot. The nest contained four 

 eggs, difi'erent from any I ever saw before. 

 Egg No. 1 ; ground color, greenish-gray, 

 covered with a ring of purplish points (leav- 

 ing the large end nearly bare), intermixed 

 with red points ; size, .91 by .75 inch. 

 No. 2 : with red points larger than in No. 

 1, and the ring more confluent, .94 by .77 

 inch. No. 3 : with purple barely percep- 

 tible and large blotches over the entire egg ; 

 .92 by .78 inch. No. 4: ground color a 

 pale white ; purple pricks few in number 

 and scarcely perceptible to the eye ; blotch- 

 es large and confluent so as to hide the pri- 

 mary color. These blotches resemble in 

 color faded blood ; size, .92 by .73 inch." 



B. J. Peckham. 



I SHOWED a single specimen of the Cas- 

 pian Tern to some seven fishermen who 

 live at the shore, and not one of them ever 

 saw one before. A single specimen of the 

 Turnstone and Golden Plover are the only 

 ones I ever saw here on the marsh. They 

 usually pass by well out at sea. 

 ! Westerly, R. I. B. J. PeCKHAM. 



Erratum. — Page 34, number 5, first 

 line under "Practical Oology," omit egcji^ 

 before with. 



That the Horned or Shore Lark nests 

 in New York is now evident ; nests found 

 during the season of 1878 fully confirm 

 this. The birds probably build early, and 

 since numbers of them have, for the last 

 three or four years, been observed in March 

 April and May, their supposed nesting sea- 

 son, there can be no doubt many spend the 

 breedino; season south of the Canadas. 



*Our correspondent surely refers to T. fus- 

 cescens and not mustelinus. The latter us- 

 ually builds higher than the other Thrushes 

 except the Ilobin. The former builds either 

 on the "-round or a foot or two above it. 



