THE OOLOGIST. 



59 



Notes from Red Wing, Minn. 



On April 24lh tliis )^ear noticed a Robin 

 building her nest in an apple tree, and on 

 the 29tli found the first House Phoebe's 

 nest containing five eggs. The next find 

 was on Mil J 7th — a set of five eggs of the 

 Field Sparrow and asetof five Lark Finch, 

 both fresh ; also a set of six White-rumped 

 Shrike, incubation well advanced ; on May 

 11th, a set of four Blue Jay's, and on the 

 14th a set of twelve Ruffed Grouse. I took 

 three of the eggs, incubated slightly. I 

 sat down not two feet from the nest and 

 watched the female to see what she would 

 do. She did not seem to be a bit dis- 

 turl)ed by my presence, but cocked her 

 head first on one side then on the other, 

 while watching me. I put my hand al- 

 niosi, onto her before she left the nest, which 

 was n)jid(; bj' hollowing out the drifted 

 leaves at the foot of two young burr oaks. 

 On May 31st I founa a set of two Whip- 

 poor-will's, incubation well advanced. The 

 eggs were laid on a drift of oak leaves near 

 a young oak tree and a stump, and is the 

 finest set that I have yet seen. Also found 

 a set of three Rose-breasted Gi'osbeak. The 

 male bird was on the nest. On June 8th a 

 set of two Night Hawks, also a Bluebird's 

 nest in a Bank S^vallow's hole, not three 

 feet from one occupied by a swallow. On 

 the 27th found a curious set of three King- 

 bird's eggs. The first egg was the com- 

 mon size and color of the average egg ; the 

 second one was a little longer and had a 

 large reddish-brown blotch covering little 

 over one-half of the larger end ; the ground 

 color is dirtj' white ; the third egg, ground 

 color same as second, with large blotches 

 of reddish-brown on large end and several 

 smaller ones scattered over the surface. 

 There are no lilac shell mai'kings on these 

 two. 



Da vies in his new " Key " says the Cat- 

 bird "builds its nest on low bushes or 

 clusters of vines." I have never yet found 

 one except in the wild plum trees in ravines 

 and on hillsides. Seeing that article, in 

 last number, of white Brown Thrush eggs 

 reminds me of a set of four eggs of the 



White-rumped Shrike which I found in 

 July, 1880, that were white and without 

 any spots. I took one egg, which I still 

 have. 



The Lark Finch nested in large num- 

 bers here this year and I found between 

 fifty and sixty nests, but took only 

 three of them. One set of eggs were near- 

 ly round. During a walk I took over the 

 same ground in the middle of August the 

 Lark Finches seemed to be everywhere 

 and I counted over theee hundred within a 

 radius of a mile square." Baltimore Orioles 

 were more common this year than they 

 have been for several years past, and I no- 

 ticed some new species, but could not iden- 

 tify them. The Brown Thrush, Wood 

 Thrush, Yellow-shafted Flicker and Wren 

 were rare this year, or else I missed them, 

 AS I onl}^ found one or two sets of each 

 where I found dozens of them other years. 

 Early this spring a Piloted Woodpecker 

 was shot near here and given me to mount. 

 They are a rare bii'd here now, but were 

 common thirty years ago, when this coun- 

 try was first settled. C. B. J. 



American Goldfinch. 



The query of J. C. W. in the March and 

 April number of The Oologist in regard 

 to the American Goldfinch leaves the erro- 

 neous iimpression that the eggs are light 

 blue colored. 



Astragmmus tristis — Am. Goldfinch, 

 alias "Wild Canury," "Thistle Yello-^^-. 

 bird," etc. One of these aliases is derived 

 from its superficial resemblance to the Can- 

 ary, the other from its partiality to the 

 seeds of the thistle. It breeds abundantly 

 in this locality during the latter part of 

 July and August. The nest is generally 

 placed in the branches of ornamental elm 

 and maple trees, though 1 have seen nests 

 in beech, pear and apple trees. It is al- 

 ways situated on the extremity of the 

 branch, swaying readily with every motion 

 of the air, and is firmly bound, generally in 

 a small fork, with cobweb and vegetable 

 fiber. In construction the nest somewhat 

 re sembles that of the Summer Yellowbird 



