102 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 17-No. 7 



Nesting of the Blue-headed Vireo 

 in Massachusetts. 



As with a number of oilier birds, the Blue- 

 lieaded Yireo {Vireo ■solitarius) has become 

 more and more common every year. Although 

 we had found several nests of this bird con- 

 taining young, we never, until this year, found 

 one with eggs. 



Our first find, which resulted in a set of 

 eo-gs, happened in this way. On May ^8th we 

 took the train for Islington. We had set out 

 for the purpose of finding a nest of the Marsh 

 Hawk, but, after tramping through a large 

 tract of marsh and finding nothing but a nest 

 of the Song Sparrow, we decided to go and see 

 what a Cooper's Hawk was screaming about in 

 a neighboring grove of pines. 



Wh were not kept long in doubt, for, ten 

 minutes after entering the grove, the female 

 flew from a nest which was placed about 

 tvventy-tive feet up in a pine. Tiie nest was 

 built the same as usual and contained three 

 egsrs which were about one-third incubated. 

 On the ground below, and in a spider's web on 

 the bottom of the nest, there was a large 

 quantity of Cooper's eggshells that at first led 

 us to think that the nest contained young. 

 We continued walking through the grove for 

 fifteen or twentj' minutes when we heard a 

 Sharp-shinned Hawk screaming in a decidodly 

 suspicious manner. 



We then separated, but were brought 

 together again by my brother calling out that 

 he thought he had found the nest. I hurried 

 to him, and on coming near said I guessed he 

 was about right, for the tail feathers of the 

 bird were plainly visible over the edge of the 

 nest. AVe could not drive her off until one of 

 us climbed up. The nest contained five eggs, 

 which were about one-third incubated. Two 

 of them closely resembled the eggs of the 

 Sparrow Hawk only being of a browner red. 



Now to the point. When within three miles 

 of home we heard a Blue-head singing. 

 Thinking that lie might possibly have a nest 

 we went to interview him, and, on nearing the 

 place where we had located him, we saw him 

 fiy into the trees and begin to catch bugs in so 

 very unconcerned a manner that he overdid 

 it. Looking where he fiew from, we found the 

 nest which he was building. It was about 

 eight feet from the ground, in a small dead 

 pine, and so close to the trunk that a week 

 later, when we collected the nest and a set of 

 four eggs, we were obliged to saw off the tree 



above and below the nest. It is built of dried 

 grass, bark, dried leaves and caterpillars nests, 

 and well trimmed with green lichens and a 

 little wool. It is pensile like all other Yireos, 

 and is lined with dried grass and pine-needles. 



The eggs measure as follows: .77x..56, .78 x 

 .56, .76X.57 and .7.5 x.. 56. They are wliite, 

 having a tinge of flesh color with a ring of red- 

 dish-brown spots on the larger end and a few 

 on the sides. 



Another nest, also containing four fresh 

 eggs, found on June Oth, was about eight feet 

 from the ground in the lowest branch of a 

 thirty-foot live oak. This was in a grove of 

 other oaks of the same size. This, we think, 

 is an exceptional case, as all our other nests 

 were built in coniferous trees. This nest is 

 much the same as the other, differing only in 

 being a trifle sh;illower and having birch bark 

 and paper in its construction. The eggs are 

 much the same in color, having, perhaps, a 

 few more spots on the sides. They measure: 

 .78X..57, .78X.58, .7!) x ..57, .77x..58. 



As far as the locality of the nest is concerned 

 the bird's other name (Solitary Vireo)] does 

 not seem to apply very well, as only one out of 

 the five nests found by us were more than 

 forty or fifty yards from the main road, one 

 being within twenty feet of it. 



A nest that we found in Dublin, N. H., on 

 June 10, 1891, had young just hatched. It had 

 much thicker walls than any other nests we 

 have seen, and, as is usually the case with 

 nests up there, was patched very thickly with 

 birch bark. 



None of our nests were in swampy places or 

 near water. 



C. ]V. <tnd J. IT. Bowles. 



I'onkapog-, Mass. 



Oological Notes. 



In the May number of the O. iS: O., while 

 reading the very interesting description of 

 " A Series of Eggs of the Oven Bird," by Mr. 

 J. P. Norris, I noticed in Set XXVI, three eggs 

 of the Warbler and three of the Cowbird, the 

 query, "does the fact of the Cowbird laying 

 its eggs in the nest prevent the real owner from 

 completing her set, or does the Cowbird make 

 away with the rightful owner's eggs?" As 

 far as ray observation goes, the depositing of 

 the Cowbird's eggs does, in most cases, prevent 

 the owner from comijleting her set. For 

 instance, on May 29, 1886, 1 found a nest of tlie 

 Chestnut-sided Warbler containing two eggs, 



