274 Stockard, Nesting Habits of Mississippi Birds. \ A ^ k 



A total of forty-two nests were visited, all situated in pine trees with the 

 exception of two that were in large water oaks and one in a hickory. In 

 each case the nest tree was in dense foliage with the one exception of 

 that in the hickory, which was utterly bare, and the nest was fully 

 exposed to view on three of its sides. One nest was only twelve feet up 

 in the forks of a dwarfed pine, while another was about seventy feet from 

 the ground in a large water oak, the average distance from the ground 

 being about forty feet. The nest tree always stood in more or less of a 

 wood, never out in a clearing. In the east central part of the State 

 nearly all nests contained five eggs, while in the southwest portion only 

 one set of five was taken, all others containing only four eggs. March 

 9, 1901, the earliest set was collected and the latest was found on April 

 22, 1900. The Crows generally became very noisy in the neighborhood 

 of the nest tree as soon as one had well started on his climb, so that the 

 observer felt almost certain about the condition of the nest that he was 

 struggling to reach. 



47. Agelaius phceniceus. Red-winged Blackbird. — This was by far 

 the most plentiful blackbird of the marshes, and often nested in consid- 

 erable colonies. A small marsh in Lowndes County was found to con- 

 tain on May 30, 1896, forty-seven occupied nests of these birds. The 

 marsh was not visited again for three years; then only nineteen nests of 

 the season were found. This falling off in numbers was probably due to 

 the fact that the fields near the marsh were now under cultivation, and 

 that the farmers tried to destroy these birds, which are very fond of corn 

 and are often industrious enough to scratch it up shortly after it has been 

 planted. In the spring of 1901 eleven nests of the Red-wing were found 

 in a peach orchard which was located one mile from the Mississippi 

 River, but the ground was dry and not at all marshy. I never saw the 

 nest actually placed on the ground but have found several only a foot 

 from it, and have visited others twenty-five feet up, but they were gener- 

 ally situated about six or eight feet high in small shrubs or bushes. The 

 nests were plaited in between the prongs of vertical forks or fastened to 

 the stalks of several reeds growing close together. The set generally 

 contained four eggs, though in many cases it consisted of only three. 

 Their nesting time was rather late in the season, the limiting dates noted 

 being May 12 and June 27 ; the height of the breeding time was about 

 June 1. 



48. Sturnella magna. Meadowlark. — The pleasant call of this bird 

 is the most familiar note of many fields and pastures. Its nest is placed 

 in a slight depression on the ground near the base of a small bush or tuft 

 of sedge or other grass. The nest is as a rule arched over the top in 

 oven-bird fashion, but is again sometimes almost roofless. The female is 

 usually found at home and will allow one to approach within a few feet 

 before she is flushed, then she flutters and staggers off as if utterly unable 

 to fly, as was noted above in reference to the Mourning Dove, Killdeer, 

 Chuckwill's-widow, and is a common trick of many smaller birds that 



