88 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 14-No. 6 



The Purple Grackle and the Robin 

 Laying in the Same Nest. 



On May 12, 1888, I took a set of four e^gs 

 from what I supposed to be a Purple Grackle' s 

 {(^iiificalus xn(r2:tiireus) nest, but upon examining 

 the eggs I found two of them to be Robin's 

 (Merula migratoria), and two Crackle's. I 

 had frequently seen the Robins and Grackle 

 fighting, and knew the former had a nest 

 in the tree, but thought it was in another 

 part. 



In other years they have both nested to- 

 gether in the same tree, but I never before 

 knew the Grackles to altogether displace the 

 Robins. The nest, which, unfortunately, I did 

 not save, was in a laige pine tree close to our 

 house. It looked as if it had been built by 

 Robins and then completed by the Grackles to 

 suit their taste. The bottom was made of 

 mud, which Grackles do not use, while the 

 toj) was made of twigs and roots which Robins 

 do not use. Another thing which would indi- 

 cate that the Grackles drove the Robins away 

 was the fact that the Robin's eggs were con- 

 siderably incubated, w'hile the Grackle' s were 

 nearly fresh. With all their well-known mis- 

 cliievousness, I have never before heard of the 

 Grackles being accused of usurping other 

 birds' nests. F. L. Homer. 



New Hamburg, Penn. 



Early Nesting of the Woodcock. 



On March 30, 1889, a friend of mine found a 

 nest of the American Woodcock {Philohela 

 minor), containing four eggs. The nest, which 

 was a mere depression on the top of a small 

 moss-covered mound, measuring about fiVe 

 inches in breadth by one in depth, was situated 

 in a thicket of briers and bushes on the south 

 side of a piece of woods near a small stream of 

 water. He discovered the nest while engaged 

 in cutting bushes, and had cut them all from 

 off the mound on which the nest was made, 

 his scythe passing directly over the sitting 

 bird's head two or three times in the operation. 

 It was not until the bushes fell across her 

 back that she moved at all, and then it was 

 only to go a foot or two from the nest. The 

 eggs were of the usual color, but were a little 

 larger than the average. They measured as 

 follows in hundredths of an inch: 1.57x1.22, 

 1..5.5X 1.2.3, L.'iTxl.in, and l..o3xl.l8. 



G. L. n. 



Bethel, Conn. 



Curious Set of Eggs of Parula 

 americana. 



I have lately received a set of five eggs of 

 the Blue Yellow-backed Warbler (Pfo-uln 

 americana), which are in some respects the 

 most remarkable of any of this species that I 

 have ever seen. 



They were taken near Taunton, Mass., on 

 .June 13, 1888, and were sent to me without 

 the nest; the collector not thinking it neces- 

 sary to take up so much room in the box as it 

 would occupy if packed with the eggs. When 

 the eggs came I doubted their identity, and 

 did not believe that they were the eggs of 

 Parula americana. In fact they looked so 

 exactly like some sets of Chickadee {Pai-us atri- 

 cajnllus) in my series of that species that I 

 was inclined to think the collector had made a 

 mistake, and to assign them to that bird. 

 However, I determined to write him for the 

 nest in which he found them, and which he 

 told me he had preserved. It came, and at 

 once settled all doubts as to identity of the 

 eggs. It is a large bulky nest, composed en- 

 tirely of usnea, and attached to a small twig 

 from which it is pendant. 



Now as I had a series of thirty-eight sets of 

 eggs of this species in my cabinet before the 

 arrival of this last set, and had studied them 

 very closely, I felt sure of being able to distin- 

 guish eggs of Parula from all others found in 

 Massachusetts. With all humility I must con- 

 fess my defeat. This set is a complete puzzle. 

 They are white, without any of the gloss that 

 is characteristic of the eggs of this species, 

 and their shape is different from any of the 

 other thirty-eight sets in the series. They 

 are more rounded at the smaller ends, and 

 they are also very much smaller than usual. 

 The markings are almost wholly confined to 

 the larger ends, but instead of forming an in- 

 distinct wreath as is usual, the spots become 

 confluent, and form nearly a solid piece of 

 color. This is cinnamon-rufous, but there are 

 a few specks of lavender-gray — so few, how- 

 ever, as not to be noticeable unless closely 

 looked for. They measure : ..56 x .44 : .57 x .44 ; 

 ..58x46; ..59x.44; .59x.43. J. P. N. 



Double Set of Cliff Swallow's Eggs. 



Being in need of a few sets of Cliff Swallow's 

 eggs (Petrochelidon lunifrons) I started with a 

 friend of mine, one evening in the early part of 

 .June, 1888, for a colony where I had previously 

 obtained their eggs. 



