84 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 14-:N^o. 6 



spots as egg No. 1, and the smaller end is 

 covered with very small specks of reddish- 

 brown; ground color is the same as the other 

 egg. 



The nest I brought home with me, and I 

 describe it as it lies before me: It is about one 

 foot wide by two feet long, and four inches 

 deep (or high), perfectly flat on top, with just 

 the least depression in the middle to hold the 

 eggs. Composed of a harsh green moss with 

 a little Spanish moss among it, and with a 

 mass of small twigs mixed in among the moss. 

 These twigs must have the moss growing on 

 them, for I saw several Kites carrying twigs 

 with moss hanging from them, during our 

 trip. The nest is just a platform, and what 

 keeps the eggs from rolling out during the 

 high wind, when the bird is not on, I cannot 

 see. All the other nests we saw were of the 

 same description, with the exception of one, 

 whicli was composed wholly of Spanish moss. 

 As the trees were all covered with this moss it 

 was very hard indeed to see the nests. 



When the parent bird left the nest she cir- 

 cled around the tree uttering plaintive cries, 

 wiiich soon brought all her relations and friends 

 to see what was the matter. Tliey began to 

 scream also, and showed a disposition to attack 

 Mr. Gilliu. I i^icked out two of the prettiest 

 and brought them to the ground with a load of 

 No. 4, but even then they were so high up that 

 I only wounded them very slightly. 



I had often heard that this Kite when 

 wounded offered no resistance, but when I 

 went to pick up my first bird it was the most 

 savage thing I ever saw. It did not wait for 

 me, but came to meet me with a rush, and I had 

 to skip around right smart to get hold of it and 

 not let it get hold of me. The second bird 

 was just the same. '^ 



We did not try any more trees that day, for 

 we thought from the signs that the other nests 

 were either old or not yet finished, so we found 

 a good place and went into cami). 



The next day we went on down the river, 

 and about two miles from our camp of the day 

 before, went into camp again, as we saw several 

 Kites flying around among the tops of the Cot- 

 ton woods. Here, after a day' s tramp through 

 mud about three feet deep, and like unto wax, 

 we located a nest and succeeded in getting 

 another set of eggs. Mr. Gillin as usual 

 climbed the tree to the nest, which was even 

 higher than the one he had climbed to before. 



We saw several other nests, but as each 

 tree took an hour or more to get up and down, 

 and required the outlay of an immense 



amount of strength and skill, it was only those 

 nests which we were certain had either eggs or 

 young in them that were attempted. 



On April 28th, still along this same river, we 

 saw a Kite sitting on her nest in a Cottonwood. 

 The nest was built out on a very small limb 

 which we afterwards found to be over 

 two hundred feet from the ground. And 

 there were no limbs for over a hundred feet 

 up. At first we decided not to try it, but it 

 seemed too bad to go away and leave it, so we 

 made a try, and Mr. Gillin at last succeeded in 

 reaching the nest to find only one egg, just 

 laid. This was the most beautiful egg Ave had 

 seen so far, and is as follows: Measures 2.00 

 xl.44, groiuid color is a yellowish-Avhite; 

 around the smaller end blotched with large 

 spots of reddish-umber, rich and beautiful, 

 and around the larger end the spots are 

 small and irregular, and lighter in color. 



At nine o'clock in the morning. May 4th, 

 just as we were crossing a small creek only three 

 or four yards wide, one of our party spied 

 a Kite's nest, which we thought was a new 

 one on account of the fresh green moss hang- 

 ing from it. We immediately went into camp, 

 and then drew a bee-line for the Cottonwoods. 



The first nest we came to was nearer tlie 

 ground than any we had found. It could not 

 have been more than fifty feet up. One of 

 our guides climbed to this one and found two 

 beautiful eggs, the Kites meanwhile flying 

 around and darting at him as they did at the 

 first nest we found. These two eggs re- 

 sembled very much the second set we had 

 collected, excepting that tlie brown spots 

 were richer and larger. The next nest we 

 discovered, although not more than ninety 

 feet up, was the hardest of all to get at. The 

 tree it was on was a cottonwood very thick 

 at the base, and when Mr. Gillin put the 

 spurs of his climbing-irons into it it crumbled 

 away like so much gingerbread. He could not 

 get any hold at all, so he climbed a smaller tree 

 that stood within about twenty feet of the one 

 that contained the nest, and when he reached 

 the top, forty-five feet from the ground, throw- 

 ing a rope over a limb of the big tree, he 

 drew it taut and fastened it, and then climbed 

 over on the rope till he was able to reach tlie 

 first branch. Even then he had a hard climb, 

 which the intense heat made worse, but at last 

 succeeded in reaching the nest which con- 

 tained three eggs. 



They were about one-half incubated, and 

 were a very beautifully marked set. 



This was the last set of Swallow-tailed 



