October. 1S92.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



^55 



cubation, but on inserting a finger I found 

 that it was not even lined ; so I then 

 thought that like the others it would be 

 forsaken ; but some days after I found that 

 it was being lined and on the 17th I noted 

 that it contained one egg ; then I feared 

 that having touched it the bird would de- 

 sert it, but three days afterwards I found 

 the bird " at home" and as well as I could 

 tell three more eggs were added. On 

 the 22d, as I concluded that the full set 

 had been deposited, I removed the nest, 

 and found that it contained five eggs. 

 The nest itself was placed in the "roof' 

 of the " turn-up," mostly kept in position 

 by a number of small rootlets, so that the 

 front, sides and part of the bottom were 

 suspended and pretty thick, while the top 

 and back were but little separated from 

 the mould of the "root." It v/as mostly 

 composed of moss, with a few small 

 brambles and a lot of the dry stalks of 

 hemlock leaves in the front, especially 

 around the entrance hole. 



This "find" considerably changed my 

 previous ideas regarding some of the 

 habits of this species. 



It now appears that the bird does not 

 desert her nest on account of it being 

 touched by the human hand, but if she 

 has decided to occupy the skeleton nest 

 that the male has formed, she will do so 

 whether it has been touched or not, if she 

 is not otherwise much disturbed. It also 

 appears to nest more than once in the 

 season, as I have reasons to believe that 

 this nest was the second for that bird that 

 season ; and its time of commencing to 

 nest in the spring appears also to vary 

 several weeks. Five appear to be the 

 general complement of eggs deposited in 

 each set. This is the number found in 

 the three last nests, of which I have taken 

 particular notes, and the last two of which 

 are now in my collection. The first of 

 these three sets was taken on the iSth 

 of May, the second on the 25th of that 



month, and this one on the 23d of June. 

 The eggs in this set, to the naked eye, 

 appeared to be pure white, with a pinkish 

 tinge, but this latter hue disappeared on 

 the contents being extracted, and then, 

 when held up between the eye and the 

 light of a lamp, a number of small dot- 

 tings of a reddish hue appeared over the 

 surface, especially towards the large end. 

 I may here remark that I prefer to " blow " 

 .small eggs in the light of the lamp, be- 

 cause, by holding up the specimens be- 

 tween the eye and the light, it can the 

 better be seen if all the contents are ex- 

 tracted ; and if not by holding the egg hole 

 side downward over the heat the remain- 

 der of the contents ooze out. 



William L. Kclls. 



Nesting of the Hermit Thrush. 



This Thrush has not until the present 

 year been known to breed in this (Hills- 

 boro) county. Therefore it is with great 

 pleasure that I am able to announce, 

 through these columns, the taking of two 

 sets the past season. The credit of taking 

 the first set belongs to Mr. Dinsmore, of 

 this place, who is a most thorough collec- 

 tor and field naturalist. 



The second set, which I collected my- 

 self on July 8, is now in my collection. 



This set I found accidentally while walk- 

 ing through a blueberry patch a few rods 

 from a swampy stream. 



The bird left the nest when I was but 

 three feet distant and flew about thirty feet 

 to a small tree, where she perched for 

 some time watching me examine the nest. 

 Finally she flew away to some thick 

 growth and disappeared. 



The nest was built in a small depression 

 in the leaves, and composed of leaves, 

 grass, and weed stalks with a strip of thin 

 bark about the outer edge. It was lined 

 with pine needles and horse-hair. The 

 nest measures in depth outside 3.5 inches. 



