I/J.6 Stockard, Nesting Habits of Mississippi Birds. \m*. 



NESTING HABITS OF BIRDS IN MISSISSIPPI. 



BY CHARLES R. STOCKARD. 



An attempt is made in the following article to condense and 

 summarize, and as nearly as possible to bring out the most inter- 

 esting facts noted while collecting for several years in various 

 parts of Mississippi. It is evident to all readers that in arranging 

 data of this kind some of the habits and customs of birds which 

 are well known to most observers must occasionally be repeated. 

 The nesting records of birds in one section of the country are not 

 always strikingly different from those of another, particularly for 

 the same species. But the manner of nesting does differ slightly 

 in many and very strikingly in a few cases. In those localities 

 where particular kinds of material and certain peculiar conditions 

 predominate the method of nest building will differ widely from 

 that which is followed in sections where such conditions do not 

 prevail ; this fact is shown clearly in many instances cited below. 

 One observing the nesting habits of birds may at times be im- 

 pressed by the constant fixedness of style followed, and then 

 again the same observer will be surprised by the great diversity 

 in nesting habits evinced by a single species. 



My intention has been to arrange the data below so that they 

 shall clearly and briefly show the facts regarding the Usual nesting 

 sites selected by different species, as well as to indicate the season 

 during which each species deposits its eggs. Yet in many cases 

 birds were observed to deviate markedly from the rule in their 

 selection of nesting sites ; such instances have been particularly 

 enumerated and emphasized, as they appear to me of especial 

 interest in showing on the one hand a faculty apparently similar 

 to discretion in the choice of nesting places, while as evidently on 

 the other hand some cases illustrate the most absurd stupidity. 

 The ordinary manner of nest construction will not be given in 

 detail and only in remarkable cases will most of the particulars be 

 entered into. I have deemed it only necessary in most instances 

 to give the extreme dates in any season on which the eggs of a 

 species were recorded, because the notes extend over a period of 

 nine years, during which time a great number of nests of one spe- 



