BIRDS' NESTS AND EGGS. 



WITH AX ANNOTATED LIST OF THE BIRDS KNOWN TO BREED 

 WITHIN FIFTY MILES OF NEW YORK CITY. 



Bv Fr.wk M. Chapman, 

 Associate Curator, Depart:nent of Mammalogy and Ornithology. 



CONTENTS. 



Birds' Nests 5 



Nesting Season S 



Nesting Site 6 



The Nest Itself 7 



Variations in Nesting Habits 8 



Second Broods 8 



Return to same Nesting Site q 



Birds' Eggs 11 



Number of Eggs in a Set or "Clutch " 11 



Size of Eggs II 



The Shell 12 



Colors of Eggs 12 



Shape of Eggs 12 



Individual Variations 12 



AxxoTATED List 15 



BIRDS' NESTS. 



(See the groups in Halls No. 204, 208, 304, 305 and 308, and the desk-cases in 

 Halls No. 208 and 303.) 



Nesting Season. — The first bird to nest in the region within 

 fifty miles of New York City is the Great Horned Owh The eggs 

 of this locally rare species have been found as early as February 

 28, a date when the ground may be covered with snow and the nest 

 itself decorated with icicles. This Owl is followed early in ^larch 

 by the more common Barred Owl, then come the Duck Hawk 

 (Group, Hall No. 204), Woodcock (Group, Hall No. 208), Screech 

 Owl (Group, Hall No. 208), Red-shouldered Hawk (Group, Hall 

 No. 204), Red-tailed Hawk and so on through the list of our 120 

 breeding birds until we reach the Goldfinch and Cedar Waxwing 

 which do not begin housekeeping until the middle of June. 



Year after year essentially the same order of nesting is ob- 

 served and the question may well be asked, What cause or causes 

 determine the time of a bird's nesting season? Primarily, it may 

 be replied, the date when a bird breeds is governed by the char- 

 acter of the food of its young. Young birds, particularly those 



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