CATALOGUE OF THE BIRDS OF IOWA. l6l 



often appearing in February and remaining until November. Com- 

 mences nesting about the middle of April. During the season of 1880, 

 an unusually large set of six eggs was taken in north Des Moines. Its 

 nest is often very firmly and compactly built, as is well illustrated by a 

 nest examined several years ago. It was several hours after a rather 

 severe rain storm, and the nest was still over half full of water, nearly sub- 

 merging the three eggs it contained. Among the many curious phenom- 

 ena of avian life, it is believed the following incident is somewhat novel : 

 One morning during the spring of 1879, a great commotion was noticed 

 among the birds a short distance from the house. On going out into 

 the yard, the cause of their uneasiness was soon learned. A robin was 

 suspended by means of a narrow strip of calico from a small branch, 

 some fifteen feet from the ground. Further examination showed that 

 the bird was dead, and that a foot or more of the calico (which was 

 about three feet in length), had been swallowed by the unfortunate 

 robin, and the other end of the strip had caught on the branch, leaving 

 the bird suspended fifteen or twenty inches below. 



Genus SIALIA Swainson 



[B 158, R 22, C 27, U 766.] 

 Sialia sialis (Linn.). Bluebird. Abundant. One of the first of 

 our summer residents to put in an appearance in the spring — some- 

 times even preceding the robin. Nesting frequently begins early in 

 April; and two or three broods are raised in a season. May 22, 1882, 

 nest was found in a small cavity in a hawthorn tree; it contained four 

 eggs of the bluebird, and one of the house wren {Troglodytes aedon). 

 Occasionally the bluebird builds its nest in the excavations made by 

 bank swallows in the sides of gravel pits. 



[B 159, R 23, C 28, U 767.] 

 Sialia tnexicana Swains. Western Bluebird. Occasionally taken 

 in western Iowa. Also recorded as having been taken in the State 

 by Mr. Atkinson. 



[Proo. D. A. N. S.. Vol. V.] 21 [February 1, 1889.] 



