50 



THE OOLOGIS'I' 



fibre, bestiidded with bits of silken disc- 

 like covering of the eggs or youDg of 

 some insect, have pieces of hornets' 

 nests bound about it, or the gosamer- 

 like fragments of spider or caterpillar 

 silk may be clinging to all parts. It is 

 almost invariably lined witl> shreds of 

 wild grape-vine bark, rarely fine grass 

 stems are used. Those l)uilt late in the 

 season are often very slovenly put to- 

 gether, the birds showing such haste as 

 to dispense with the customary silk as a 

 binder, in many instances also leaving 

 the loose ends of the scanty lining slick- 

 ing out above the rim. The average 

 dimensions ta-e: Diameter— inside — 2.2,=3, 

 outside— 2.85. Depth— inside— 1.50, out- 

 side 2.50. 



Probably few Eastern birds suffer 

 more from the imposition of the Cow- 

 bird then this Vireo. While they seldom 

 desert the nest on that account, the de- 

 position of the parasitic egg effects the 

 number of eggs in a set to a marked de- 

 gree. The Vireo will seldom deposit 

 another egg after this has occurred, but 

 will immediatly commence to incubate. 

 Twice I have found the female sitting 

 on a single egg of her own and one of 

 the Cowbird. I have never found more 

 than three eggs of the owner with 

 that of the Cowbird, and in the latter 

 <,-ase almost invariably found one of the 

 owners' eggs broken by the clumsy feet 

 of the intruder. 



Three egg.s constitute a set in most in- 

 stances and two occur about as often as 

 four. 1 have found but three sets of the 

 latter number in ten years collecting: 



One i)ei'iiliar and to me, vexatious 

 trait of this l)iicl, is that of Ihrowing on*- 

 her eggs and dt^scriiug the nest atter it 

 has been discovere<l and she has been 

 flushed. It appears to make no ditTer- 

 euce whethei- the nest has been touched 

 oi notorwhfther the eggs are fresh or 

 li'ghly incubated.lt IssiifBiif ttothebiid 

 tha -he has Im'cd discover* d, so out they 

 go atonce on the retirement of the invest- 

 gator. There appears to be some in- 



dividuality in this species, for I have 

 sometimes ran across a pair of an oppo- 

 site disposition, whether they are social- 

 ly inclined friendly to original investi- 

 gations, or loath to change their quarters, 

 I could not determine, but they continu- 

 ed to lay or incubate although disturbed 

 a number of times. Such individuals 

 are greatly in the minority however. 



In a set the eggs run very evenly in 

 size, but not so in comparison of sets. 

 Eauging from .75 to .89 in length and 

 .57 to .63 in width Twenty-two eggs 

 averaging .81 x .59. 



Although the coloration of the typical 

 egg is so well known to all oologists, 1 

 cannot forbcaradding the description of 

 of an exceedingly odd and beautiful set 

 taken by me on the 18th of July '87. 

 Four eggs, pure white, spotted with deep 

 Vandyke and seal brown. Three eggs 

 splashed and dotted with a light brown 

 closely resembling Ma's brown, some 

 of those blotches measuring .10 x .15. 

 All marking confined to larger ends. 

 .89 X .61, .89 X .61, .89 x .60, .86 x .58. 



Warbling Vireo. Vireo gilvus. This 

 species is not at all common as a breed- 

 er or as a migrant. 1 once found it& 

 nest pendant from a branch of a cherry 

 tree in a yard. It was within a few^ feet 

 of a path where probably a dozen per- 

 sons passed daily. It contained three 

 eggs when discovered and although un- 

 molested in auj' wa\, the bird deserted 

 it after throwing out the eggs. It was not 

 until June 1. '89 that I succeeded in tak- 

 ing a set of their eggs. The circum- 

 stances are particularly interesting and 

 furnishes a short but delightful chapter 

 to nesting in relation to climatic con- 

 ditions. May rt'as an unusually wet 

 month, rain falling ahuost daily during 

 the latter half. The reader will recall, 

 with a shade of sadness, the great flood 

 on the 3lst which nearly swept Johns- 

 town out of existance. I had found 

 many nests containing eggs or young, 

 (particularly those of the Thrushes) 

 watersoaked, forlorn and deserted, the 



