Vol. XXI 

 1905 



'I Stockard, Nesti?ig Habits of Mississippi Birds. 2 79 



and thev were singing during most of the day from the rails of the fence 

 that surrounded it. I had collected in this district during the four pre- 

 vious seasons and had never observed one fourth as many of these birds 

 in all as were now to be seen in this single field. How had they located 

 the place and from where had they come ? During the month of May 

 fourteen nests were found and at least as many more could probably have 

 been located with careful searching. The nests were placed in clumps of 

 tangled vetch only a few inches above the ground. Eleven sets were com- 

 posed of five eggs each and three contained four each. They were col- 

 lected from May 9 to 23, 1900. 



63. Piranga rubra. Summer Tanager. — These birds seem to have a 

 foolish fancy for building their nests on horizontal branches that over- 

 hang roadways. They were rather common and many nests were found 

 each season, fully half of which were placed in trees along the wayside. 

 The male was usually accommodating about leading the collector to his 

 mate's nest, and one with slight experience in observing his antics could 

 go almost directly to the nest tree. The observer finally felt that when- 

 ever he heard the male's call during the nesting season a Tanager's nest 

 was soon to be noted. They build a neat home of smooth contour and 

 always lined with a golden yellow grass straw or a similar greenish straw 

 giving to the concavity of the nest a very characteristic appearance ; the 

 common 'pepper grass' stems make a favorite material for the outer 

 layer. About one half of the sets contained four eggs while the others 

 contained only three. Some of these eggs are so similar in appearance 

 to those of some Mockingbirds that when a large number of the two 

 kinds are scattered together it is not an easy task to discriminate between 

 them. The earliest set was found April 28, 1S96, and the latest June 6, 

 1900. 



64. Progne subis. Purple Martin. — No farm cabin is complete 

 without its martin-box or pole with several gourds strung near the top as 

 nesting places for these birds. They also come to the smaller towns, 

 though they are far less evident during the past several years, as the 

 English Sparrow has usurped most of their breeding places. The eggs 

 are generally deposited in May, and four or five compose the sets. A 

 rather neat nest of sticks and straw is constructed. 



65. Riparia riparia. Bank Swallow. — Along the perpendiculnr 

 banks of rivers and creeks, in railroad cuts, and in the cliff-like hill sides 

 many of these swallows were found digging their tunnels. They were 

 numerous along the banks of the Tombigbee River where dozens of holes 

 were often seen in a single cliff. They dig their own tunnels and in the 

 back of these their nest of sticks and straw was placed. 1 May and the 



1 On May 2 of this year I found a Bank Swallow's nest placed in a King- 

 fisher's deserted tunnel. The tunnel was six feet long, and three feet from 

 the entrance it made a bend of 45 degrees, and at this place the swallows had 

 placed their nest. 



