THB OOLOGIST 



89 



nell, who collected the eggs of the 

 Hudsoiiian ('urlew, which are in my 

 collection, has also procured the eggs 

 of the American Dunlin in the vicinity 

 of Kowak Delta, Alaska. 

 Sincerely, 

 Gerald Alan Abbott. 



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Peculiar Nesting of the Scarlet 

 Tanager. 



In spite of the fact that the Tanager 

 is a common breeding bird over the 

 larger part of the state of Pennsyl- 

 vania lying within the Alleghanian and 

 Canadian life zones, I have never 

 found but very few of their nests. The 

 clear, cheerful song of the male is fre- 

 quently heard but to the author at 

 least the nesting secrets have always 

 been an enigma. 



It was with pleasure then that on 

 July 10th. 1909, I heard the harsh 

 "chip-churr" of the female which 

 usually means that a nest is close by. 

 A short search revealed it, placed in 

 the fork of a horizontal yellow birch 

 about eighteen feet above the water 

 of one of those trout streams for 

 which the Pocono Mountains are just- 

 ly famous. The set of four almost 

 fresh eggs were typical in all par- 

 ticulars but were unfortunately broken 

 before blowing. 



1 often passed over a bridge near 

 this point and heard both Tanagers. 

 Owing to the lateness of the season, I 

 supposed that no second attempt at 

 nesting would be made. Imagine, 

 therefore, when on the morning of 

 July 21st the female was observed 

 starting a nest on a horizontal limb 

 of a yellow birch directly over the 



road. The nest was completed on 

 July 27th and on the 29th held one 

 egg, readily discernible from the road. 

 On August 4th the nest was collected 

 and was found to contain a handsome 

 set of five eggs. 



Owing to my small experience with 

 tne Tanager I can not speak with au- 

 thority concerning the size of their 

 sets but 1 was under the impression 

 that complete sets almost invariably 

 consisted of three or four eggs and 

 had never heard of a set of five. At 

 all events, a second setting of five at 

 a date so late in August and from a 

 pair which had previously laid but 

 four eggs is worthy of notice. 



Richard C. Harlow. 



Scarlet Tanager. 



Anyone who has seen the male Scar- 

 let Tanager in his natural Habitat, 

 with his body of irridescent red, blend- 

 ed with his wings and tail of lustrous 

 black, could not fail to appreciate the 

 unexcelled beauty of this bird. In 

 looking for the nest the collector is 

 assisted by hearing the call note of 

 jep-there, jep-there, jep-there. The 

 nest is pretty sure to be some where 

 in the vicinity. They generally place 

 the nest near the end of a horizontal 

 limb from 15 to 30 feet from the 

 ground, on the edge of a woods, over 

 a road or near a path. 



I found a nest May 27th, 1906 with 

 four eggs and one Cowbird at Pocop- 

 son. Pa., in Black Oak 21 feet from the 

 ground and 18 feet out. The nest was 

 over a public road and the only way 

 to get the eggs was to stand a ladder 

 on end, brace it with ropes one way 

 while my brother held it from going 

 side-ways. I secured the nest and 

 eggs. 



On June 19, 1909, I found a nest near 

 Wilmington, Del., with three eggs, in- 

 cubation commenced, near the end of 

 a limb about 15 feet high in an Oak 



