124 NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Blue Herons, White and Black-crowned Night Herons, the Snaekbird, 

 White Ibis and others, the whole making up a scene which one might ex- 

 pect to see in a tropical clime, in the midst of a dismal swamp. The first 

 nest of the Spoonbill that was found was situated about eight feet from 

 the ground and contained three eggs. The writer says that the nests 

 of the Spoonbills, Herons, and Snakebirds are all made nearly alike. In 

 eight nests of the Spoonbill four contained three eggs each, one two eggs 

 and one young, two others four eggs, and another five. The nest which 

 contained the five eggs was placed about twelve feet high. He says the 

 set of five is probably the largest known and the measurements are given 

 as follows: 2.56 by 1.76, 2.54 by 1.71, 2.53 by 1.79, 2.49 by 1.79 and 

 2.43 by 1.83. One pure white egg was taken from a bird, and in the next 

 rookery visited an immaculate one was taken from a nest that had a spot- 

 ted one for a companion, and one or two others obtained were sparingly 

 spotted. In size and shape they resemble the Wild Turkey's eggs. 



507. American Oystercatcher — HyEMAXOPUS palliatus. Creamy or 

 white, spotted and blotched irregularly with varying shades of brown, 

 rather oval in shape; two or three, rarely four in number; size from 2.12 

 to 2,30 in length by 1.50 to 1.62 in breadth. The Brown-backed Oyster- 

 catcher breeds along the coast from Florida to New Jersey. It breeds 

 abundantly but irregularly in different localities. There are extensive breed- 

 ing resorts along the coast of Virginia. The nest is simply a hollow in the 

 ground supplied with a little grass, etc. 



Hab. North, Central and South America almost entirely along the coast, chiefly the Atlantic, but also on 

 the Pacific. 



508. Black Oystercatcher — h^ematopus nicer. The eggs and nest- 

 ing of this bird is similar to those of H. palliatus of the Atlantic coast, 



Hab. Pacific Coast. 



509. Turnstone — strepsilas interpres. Greenish -ash, spotted, 

 blotched and dotted irregularly and thickly with yellowish and umber- 

 brown ; two to four ; abruptly pyriform in shape and average about 

 1.55 by 1. 15. This bird, so easily recognized by its conspicuous 

 colors, has received the name of "Calico-back." It breeds throughout 

 Arctic America, wintering from the Carolinas southward. In the Hud- 

 son's Bay country the eggs are laid in June; the nest is nothing but a 

 hollow scratched in the earth, lined with bits of grass. Brant Bird is 



another name for it. Hab Sea coasts of nearly all countries. Less frequent in the interior. 



510. Black Turnstone — strepsilas melanocephala. The nesting 

 and eggs of the Black-headed Turnstone are the same as those of 5. 



interpres Hab. Pacific Coast. 



