382 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



county too recently settled to possess orchards. West of Boones- 

 boro, during a period of over two months, I saw not more than 

 fifty individuals altogether. Said to be pretty common in spring' ' 

 (Mem. Bost. Soc, xv, 1868, p. 493). 



In Decatur and Mahaska counties, T. M. Trippe states: "Not 

 as familiar as the Robin of the East. In spring and fall it is 

 more abundant than in summer, though many remain to breed. 

 Not seen in winter." (Proc. Bost. Soc, xv, 1872, p. 234). 



W. W. Searles of Lime Springs, Iowa, records : " Two years 

 ago an albino Robin built its nest just about four rods from my 

 gallery door. He was not all white, but marked like the Belted 

 Kingfisher" (Iowa Orn, i, 4, 1893, P- 9o)- I shot a specimen Oc- 

 tober 30, 1896, near Forest City, which had large white-blotched 

 areas in the plumage, particularh' about the head. 



Genus Si alia Swainson. 

 352. (766). Sia/ia sia/is (Linn.). Bluebird. 



The Bluebird is a common summer resident in all parts of the 

 state from about the first of March until the first of November. 

 Its gentle, mellow notes are among the surest and most welcome 

 signs of spring. In the winter of 1893- 1894 the Bluebirds were 

 almost exterminated by the severe weather which prevailed in 

 the South during that season, and for two or three years the 

 species was only .seen very rarely in Iowa. The numbers have 

 been increasing every year, until now the Bluebirds have almost 

 regained their former numbers. They formerly nested very 

 commonly in bird-boxes, cornices of houses, or even tin cans 

 nailed up, but the English Sparrows have nearly driven them 

 from the towns. The nests are usually placed in deserted holes 

 of the Woodpecker, and the four or five pale-blue eggs are laid 

 about the middle or last of April. The eggs of the Bluebird are 

 occasionally pure white ; so-called ' ' albino sets ' ' have been 

 reported by G. H. Berry at Cedar Rapids (O. & O., xviii, 1893, 

 p. 99) and by D. F. Hall at Creston (Oologist, xii, 8, 1895, pp. 

 13 1-2). Mr. Hall noted a pair about May i carrying nest mater- 

 ial into a deserted Woodpecker's excavation, in which they reared 

 one brood in safety. A second nest was built in an old paint 

 bucket hung on the broken limb of a crab-apple tree, and the 

 eggs, which were pure white, deposited June 13th, 14th, i5tli, 



