THE OOLOGIST. 



181 



Their new home was in a hollov about 

 thii'ty feet h'gh in a big Cottonwood, 

 and in this safe I'etreat two young 

 Bubos will be trained to endure the 

 abuse of Crows and to evade the pry- 

 ing eyes of collectors. 



P. M. SiLLOWAY, 



Virden, 111. 



Collecting in a Minnesota Swamp. 



About four miles north of St. Paul 

 there is a large swamp, which is a favo- 

 rite breeding ground for numerons 

 species of water birds, especially Black 

 Terns and Rails. 



On the 9th of June last season a friend 

 and myself started out for this place to 

 put in a day's collecting. On arriving 

 there no boats could be found, so we 

 were forced to wade up to our waists 

 with our clothes on, as the water was 

 extremely cold. 



The swamp is suiTounded by a patch 

 ■of rushes and cat-tails in which the Yel- 

 low-headed and Red-winged Blackbirds 

 breed by the hundreds. The Yellow- 

 heads are much more numerous than 

 the Red-wiugs, and, as a rule, make 

 their nests considerably higher up in 

 the reeds. 



We collected a series of twenty sets, 

 which show gieat variations in shape, 

 size and coloration. The nests of the 

 Yellow-headed Blackbirds ai'e placed 

 from one to four feet above water and 

 strongly woven to the surrounding 

 reeds. 



The nests are composed of strips 'of 

 dead reeds and lined with dry gi'asses. 

 Some of the nests were lined with thin 

 shavings and excelsior, though where 

 they got them I am at loss to know, as 

 there are no buildings, that I know of, 

 in the vicinity. 



The eggs were usually four in num- 

 ber, rarely five, and*occasionally three. 



At this date the eggs were well incu- 

 bated, the last week in May being the 

 best time to procure fresh sets. 



After collecting these we pushed on 

 and soon came to a Sora Rail's nest con- 

 taining a fresh set of ten. After a half 

 an hour's searching we obtained six 

 more sets of Sora's, three of ten, two of 

 eleven and one of fifteen — an unusually 

 large one. 



We also optained three sets of Vir- 

 ginia Rail's, all of eight eggs, which is 

 the usual number here. The Rail's 

 nests are simp'y a heap of decomposed 

 weeds and other vegetable matter, on 

 which a heap of small strips of dead 

 reeds about two inches in length are 

 placed, there is usually a hollow in the 

 top of this about an inch or two deep in 

 which the eggs are laid. 



The nests are about three inches 

 above water, and the eggs are gome- 

 times covered with water, which does 

 not seem to effect the birds at all, how- 

 ever, as the eggs are usually hatched 

 out all right notwithstanding this. 



In no case was the parent observed 

 on the nest. 



Passing on through the rashes we 

 came to an open space, clear of reeds, 

 thick with floating vegetable matter. 

 Suddenly a large bird flew up to one 

 side, in the edge of the reeds, hastening 

 there we found a beautiful set of four 

 *eggsof the American Bittern. Upon 

 blowing these proved fresh. 



All at once a cloud of Black Terns 

 arose from a patch of floating matter, 

 enclosed by a circle of reeds. The 

 Terns kept up a terrible fuss and we 

 thought they must have young. 



Upon wading over to that side we be- 

 gan to search for their nests. We soon 

 found and collected a good series of 

 sets, the Terns meanwhile keeping up 

 a deafening racket, and darting down 

 at us and knocking our hats off several 

 times. At last their attact began to be 

 unpleasant to say the least, and my 

 friend at last took out his 22 cal. revol- 

 ver and tired several shots into them, 

 1)ut this was of no avail and they kept 

 it up worse than ever until when we 



