13 



street, and along the creek, not going far from the premises. 

 In nearly every instance a small wall of mud is built around the 

 front of the nest, just inside the entrance. Generally by May 

 5th. some nests are ready for the reception of the eggs, though 

 the bulk are not ready for some days later; especially those 

 of the young of the previous year, who are a few days behind 

 their parents in this respect as in their return from the South. 



The nest varies in depth, some being deep cup-shaped struc- 

 tures, while others are very shallow ; and, in a few instances, 

 only a scanty supply of twigs and grass were spread upon the 

 floor for the eggs. In one room the eggs had been deposit- 

 ed on the bare floor without a single piece of nest material to 

 prevent them from rolling about. 



The eggs are deposited in a close cluster in the center of the 

 nest, and, after the set is complete, are partly covered with bits 

 of apple leaves which they pluck from the tops of the apple 

 trees, or with the seed pods of the locust tree which they find 

 on the creek bank. 



From three to six and rarely seven eggs are laid, the pre- 

 vailing number varying in different years. In 1896 when one 

 pair were adults and the rest immature birds, the number of 

 eggs to the set was three and four ; the adults laying four, and 

 the young birds having one set of four and two of three. The 

 pair driven away by the sparrows also deposited four eggs. 



In 1897 the largest set was of five eggs; two of the ten sets 

 containing this number. The adult birds, of which there 

 were five pairs, had sets of three and four eggs. 



In 1898 nine sets contained five and two six each, and the rest 

 three and four eggs each. Several of these, however, were 

 fresh and probably incomplete. 



In 1899 the prevailing number was four followed closely by 

 five, four sets were of six and probably about the same num- 

 ber of three each. 



On May 22, 1900, when I took the annual census, a large num- 

 ber of sets were incomplete, but the numbers held out about as 

 they did in the previous year, — four eggs predominating, fol- 

 lowed bv five and then six. 



