Vol. XXII 

 1905 



Stockard, Nesting Habits of Mississippi Birds. 1 49 



were well concealed by the thick mat of grass that drooped over them. 

 This waste of reeds covered several acres along a marshy stream border 

 and was a favorite resort for many Red-winged Blackbirds, Maryland 

 Yellow-throats, and other marsh lovers. The above mentioned nest con- 

 tained six fresh eggs on June 29, 1S96. 



11. Rallus crepitans. Clapper Rail. — These birds are found laving 

 in the brackish marshes near Scranton, Mississippi. On my only visit 

 to these places one set of ten slightly incubated eggs was collected. The 

 nest was on the ground, raised several inches above the surface by a heap 

 of reeds that was piled under it. The thick growth above hid the eggs 

 from view, and they would have been passed over but for the fact that 

 the female was flushed from them. 



12. Porzana Carolina. Sora. — I have observed this species in Louisi- 

 ana but have never seen one in Mississippi, although no doubt they occur 

 in the marshes along the river in the northwest portion of the State. 



13. Actitis macularia. Spotted Sandpiper. — These birds were pres- 

 ent throughout the year, more abundant in winter than in summer, but 

 their nests were never found. 



14. Oxyechus vociferus. Killdeer. — This plover is rather abundant 

 in all sections of the State, and at times other than the breeding season 

 will be found feeding in small flocks. They nest throughout Mississippi, 

 always on the ground and, in the large number of cases observed, in open 

 fields and pastures. The eggs are never hidden in grass or weeds but are 

 placed in slight depressions on the bare ground or on a short grass turf. 

 The saucer-like depression of a nest has scattered in it bits of shells, 

 small pebbles, short pieces of weeds or sticks, and often small bits of 

 crayfish armor. This rubbish is never arranged so as to form a real 

 nest since only a few bits of it are scattered in the depression and can 

 apparently serve no purpose whatever except to suggest to the observer 

 that the Killdeer has a slight nest-building instinct either in an incipient 

 or a rudimentary condition. The earliest set was taken on April 17, 1897, 

 and the latest June 6, 1900. All full sets contained four eggs. Whenever 

 the female is flushed from her nest she pretends to be unable to fly and 

 staggers off in a wounded manner fluttering along the ground. This 

 action is evidently intended to allure the intruder into a chase and thus 

 draw him away from her nest. 



15. Colinus virginianus. Bob-white. — The Bob-white is still abun- 

 dant, though becoming scarcer each year, at the hand of the sportsman. 

 In fields of sedge 'grass or oats many pairs will often nest very close 

 together. June, 1895, I found in a thirty acre field of sedge grass sixteen 

 nests of the Bob-white, all containing large sets, ranging from twelve to 

 twenty-two eggs, and the total number of eggs in this field must have 

 been about three hundred. As the eggs were not taken the exact total 

 was not known. In 1S97 a ten acre oat field contained six nests, but in 

 the last several years I have not observed more than three or four nests in 

 one field and usually only one was found. The earliest complete set was 



