IHE OOLOGIST 



19 



cr iu a bunch with their heads outward, 

 lljiug ia all directii)iis when startled; 

 then soon utler their call note and col- 

 lect together. 



Their nests with fresh eggs may be 

 found from April to July, two and 

 sometimes (hi'ee liirds are rea'-ed in 

 one summer The nest which is plac- 

 ed in rrass, somi times under a bank, 

 but more frcq>ieutl3" under a large tuft 

 ■of sage or clover is not very easily found 

 unless the female is Hushed; the mater- 

 ials useil for construcli )n being only of 

 grass put in a hollow scratched out by 

 the birds. Both male and female assist 

 in building but do not go very far from 

 the nest for the material. It 'n arched 

 over having an entrance on the side. 

 If the birds are disturbed while build- 

 ing it, ihey will leave, but only to go 

 somewhere else and start another right 

 away. 



The eggs vary in number. Nests 

 have been found with ten eggs, the least, 

 and twenty-five, the most, but fifteen to 

 twenty is the usual number. The color 

 of an egg is pure white; after remain- 

 ing in the nest a short while it becomes 

 stained. In shape they are pointed at 

 one end while perfectly round at the 

 other. 



They will not leave the nest until al- 

 most trampled upon. When it does 

 leave, if incubation has commecced, it 

 •will not rise but runs along beating the 

 ground with its wings and feigning 

 lameness, trying to .lake the attention 

 from her nest of eggs. 



The young leave the nest soon after 

 liatched and have a peculiar peep simi- 

 lar to a young Turkey and usually ut- 

 ter it two or three times in succession. 

 When disturbed they will give several 

 loud peeps while the old birds will fly 

 about the intruder keeping up a con- 

 tinual fuss. Sometimes they will run 

 around with their feathers ruflkd up 

 and wings down making somewhat of a 

 cackling noise. 



H. Gould Welboun, 

 Lexington, N. C. 



Exceptions. 



These exceptions are nothing more 

 than random notes but perhaps may be 

 of value to fellow collectors. 



The Spotted Sandpiper {Actilus mac- 

 wZ«;-i't), says Oliver Davie: "The nest 

 is simply a depression in the soil, some- 

 times constructed of hay and moss. 

 The eggs like all those of the waders 

 lay in the nest with the small ends to- 

 gether." 



I found only one exception to the po- 

 sition <.i the eggs in the Spotted Sand- 

 piper—in this case the small ends were 

 all lying in the same direction. I flush- 

 ed the bird off the nest and the depres- 

 sion the five eggs made in the nest 

 showed they had lain that way for some 

 time at least. As to the composition of 

 the nest in this locality, the majority of 

 nests were located beneath a weed or a 

 willow shrub where bits of dead black 

 leaves formed the lining for the nest. 

 As authority for this I have sixty-five 

 sets of Actitus macularia before me 

 taken from nests none of which com- 

 pared to that of Davie. 



Mourning Dove {Zainaidura vincr- 

 oura). In speaking of the position of 

 the nest of this species Davie says, "The 

 nest is placed in the horizontal branch- 

 es of trees or stumps or on the top rail 

 of old snake fences or rocks, in bushes 

 and in treeless regions near the 

 ground." 



Out of personal examination of per. 

 haps some three hundred nests of this 

 Dove about one nest out of twenty was 

 upon the ground and this is a well tim- 

 bered country. 



Cooper's Hawk [Accipiter cooperi). 

 Davie says, ''The number of eggs vary 

 from four to six, rarely the latter num- 

 ber, and they may be found in various 

 sections between April 7 and May 20." 



Out of three sets of the Accipiter 

 cooperi taken by me last year two sets 

 were of three and one of four. The 

 latter set was taken about June 20th. 



