THE OOLOGIST 



331 



that he has never found a Robin's nest 

 containing over four eggs. I wonder 

 whether he has since, been more for- 

 tunate in his search? 



My records of Robins' nests contain- 

 ing over four eggs and young follow, 

 and it is a curious fact that all but 

 two nests were in unusual situations. 



I. Five fresh eggs; collected April 

 17, 1902, at Holmesburg, Philadelphia 

 County, Pa., from a nest placed 30 feet 

 u]) on wooded railroad trestle bridge 

 (one track) spanning a creek, but not 

 aljove the water, underneath a cross- 

 tie and within fifteen inches of the 

 rail; on bridge used daily by about 

 fifteen or twenty trains. Eggs ovate; 

 greenish blue; size l.lOx.81; 1.05 x 

 .76; 1.00 X .78; .95 x .73 inches. 



II. Five fresh eggs, collected on 

 May 2, 1902, at Wissi-noming, Phila- 

 delphia County, Pa., from a nest on a 

 wooden-girder supporting a large wood- 

 encased water main in a ravine, 12 feet 

 from the ground and about a foot 

 from the bottom of the pipe. Eggs, 

 ovate; greenish blue; sixe 1.19 x .83; 

 1.18 X .83; 1.18 x .83; 1.17 x .83; 1.15 

 x .83 inches. Notice the remarkable 

 uniformity in width of the eggs. 



III. Five small young (no Cowbirds) 

 examined on .Tune 3, 1902, at Frank- 

 ford, Philadelphia, Pa.; nest situated 

 15 feet up in a willow along creek, 

 placed between a double crotch. It 

 was first found on May 21st, when it 

 held two young and three hatching- 

 eggs; the eggs were typical. The 

 young eventually perished from expos- 

 ure and starvation as wanton gunners 

 murdered their parents. 



The discovery of three Robins' nests 

 in one year containing over four eggs 

 and young is a record, I think, that 

 will not soon be equaled or surpassed. 



iV. Five young about a day or two 

 old nio Cowbirds) found on May 30, 

 1904, at Parry, Burlington County, 

 New .lersey: nest placed about five 



feet up in a white cedar sprout in a 

 cedar swamp along a creek. 



V. Seven eggs, fresh and (3) com- 

 menced; collected on May 11, 1904 at 

 Holmesburg, Philadelphia County, Pa., 

 from a nest placed on a girder of a 

 large wooden road bridge spanning a 

 creek, over forty feet above the 

 ground and less than ten inches un- 

 derneath the floor, beneath the foot 

 walk; a double nest, one built inside 

 the other making it two inches high- 

 er than in average-sized nest, other- 

 wise typical. Eggs ovate and greenish- 

 blue, size 1.19 X .83; 1.19 x .81; 1.18 

 x .79; 1.15 X .81; 1.12 x .79; 1.11 x .80; 

 1.10 X .80 inches. 



VI. Five tresh eggs, collected for 

 me by my young brother William from 

 a nest on a steel railroad bridge span- 

 ning an unopen street, on May 22, 

 1911, at Frankford, Philadelphia Coun- 

 ty, Pa.; nest about 24 feet above the 

 ground and 20 feet down from the 

 tracks, placed on a big bolt among 

 many united straining girder rods and 

 almost concealed. Many heavy trains 

 pass daily over the bridge. Eggs ovate 

 and greenish-blue, two abnormally 

 colored; one being faintly sprinkled 

 with bright yellowish-brown and the 

 other lightly speckled with the same 

 color over the entire surface; size 

 1.12 X So; 1.15 X .81; 1.18 x .80 (faint- 

 ly sprinkled), 1.16 x .81 (lightly speckl- 

 ed); 1.13 X .80 inches. The mark- 

 ings are pigment and not dirt marks. 



This is the first si)otted set of Rob- 

 ins' eggs I have ever examined, al- 

 though I have seen a similarly marked 

 set of three in the collection of Dr. .1. 

 P. Ball of this city, who collected it in 

 this vicinity. 



.\11 of these sets are in my collec- 

 tion and I prize them highly, although 

 they are only "Common Robins' eggs.' 



! e< us hear from others who !in\M 



