94 



THE OOLOGIST. 



ingbirds and Yellow-breasted Chat for 

 neighbors. The height from the ground 

 varies from two to eighteen feet in my 

 experience; six or seven however is ac- 

 cording to the majority, the correct 

 thing. 



Strangely enough, amongst all the 

 nests 1 have found and examined, num- 

 bering at least sixty, I have never been 

 able to discover more than three eggs 

 in one nest, though I have found them 

 in all shapes of incubation, and with 

 young repeatedly, yet three was the in- 

 variable number of a full set. I have 

 noticed authorities on the subject claim 

 four and sometimes Mve as the usual 

 complement; and it has occured to 

 me that possibly the Cowbird may have 

 taken a hand in evening up matters, as 

 some specimens of each species so 

 closely resemble each other as to defy 

 detection. 1 have not met with Mrs. 

 Cowbird, or a specimen of her "oval 

 imposition" in this district, and for 

 that reason I think it very probable 

 that the large set of four and five were 

 taken in localities where the two birds 

 abound in > ommon. It would be in- 

 teresting tr- hear from other collectors 

 regarding this. 



The nidilication of the Cai'dinal com- 

 mences here, early in April. 



The earliest nest 1 examined last sea- 

 son was on April 18th, it was situated 

 in a small cedar six feet from the ground 

 and built in the usual way, neither 

 loose nor compact, neither deep nor 

 shallow, Grosbeak style, and easily 

 recognized without close examination; 

 the materials were weedstalks, grasses, 

 and cedar bark, with an occasional leaf 

 for variety; the lining was quite smooth 

 and neat being of tine I'ootlets and 

 fibres. 



The nest contained two fresh eggs of 

 ordinary type, spotted profusely with 

 dull brown and grayish drab on a white 

 ground, they measured 1.05 x .75 and 

 1.08 X .78. 



On the day following, I took a beau- 



tiful set of three partly incubated eggs, 

 from a nest built in a tangled grape- 

 vine, twelve feet from the ground and 

 well concealed. The female Hew from 

 the nest, as I approached and was at 

 once joined by the male; both were very 

 fussy and assiduous in trying to guard 

 their little domicile. 



The nest like the other was composed 

 of weeds and grasses and lined in a pre- 

 cisely similar way. The eggs were 

 beautiful specimens, one having large 

 chestnut blotches over the greater part 

 of the egg and the others being more 

 heavily marked than usual, they form a 

 handsome set. 



The eggs of the Cardinal vai-y greatly 

 both in size and color. I have one 

 specimen so covered with dull brown 

 as to look like an egg of the Skylark. 

 Another similar, only the small end is 

 dark cream color, and still another 

 white with a few ashy spots diffused 

 over the surface; all being about aver- 

 age size. A nest containing three near- 

 ly fledged young was pointed out to me 

 on August 2, 1893. The earliest record 

 of eggs was April 3, 1891. 



Wm. W. Wake. 



Nesting- of the Crossbill in Maine. 



It is now quite generallj' understood 

 that the Crossbill nests early in the 

 season while the snow is yet on the 

 ground, but comparatively few nests 

 have been taken and accurate nesting 

 dates are few and far between. 

 Through the kindness of my friend, 

 Mr. P. H. Dunn of Brewer, I have re- 

 ceived some information of the nesting 

 of this species which may be of intei'est 

 to readers of the Oologist. The find- 

 ing of the nest of the Crossbill, as re- 

 lated by Mr. Dunn is substantially as 

 follows: 



"I spent the winter of 1885-7 in Pis- 

 cataquis county, about thirty-five miles 

 north of Gi'eenville in a logging camp 

 on Bear Brook 6ve miles from where it 



