Vol 'lS XVI ] Erichsen, Birds of Liberty County, Ga. 389 



July 4. Between and including the two dates mentioned, I found eight 

 nests, six containing three eggs each, and two with young. Sets of more 

 than three eggs are extremely rare, for during these and previous obser- 

 vations elsewhere in Georgia, covering a period of several years, I have 

 never noted a nest containing a larger number than this, and very often 

 but two eggs are laid. The heights at which these nests were placed 

 varied from three to ten feet, averaging about seven feet. They were 

 composed of weed stalks, moss, dead leaves and trash, lined with grass 

 stems, rootlets and pine straw, and were very loosely constructed, this 

 being a characteristic of the nest of this species. 



24. Passerina ciris. Painted Bunting. — This highly colored bird 

 nests abundantly in the county, frequenting scrub oak woodland, bushy 

 pastures and undergrowth bordering roadsides. The birds are absent 

 entirely from heavily timbered tracts and the interior of swamps, occasion- 

 ally however, nesting among the low undergrowth bordering the latter. 

 My earliest and latest dates when fresh eggs were found are May 14 and 

 July 19 respectively. Well fledged young were noted in the nest July 25. 

 Between, and including the two dates first mentioned, I located twelve 

 nests of this species which contained eggs, besides several nests in which 

 were young of various stages of growth. Of the twelve nests noted nine 

 held three eggs each, and the remaining contained four each. The major- 

 ity of the nests were in small gums and scarlet oaks, with an occasional 

 nest in vines and sumach, and were placed at heights ranging from two 

 feet six inches to eleven feet, averaging about six feet. All were composed 

 of leaves and grasses, lined with rootlets and, in several instances, with 

 horsehair. Practically no variation in materials used was noted. This 

 species often nests' in festoons of the Spanish moss, and the nests when so 

 placed are difficult to discover. 



25. Piranga rubra rubra. Summer Tanager. — This species breeds 

 abundantly, especially in localities where there are large areas of second 

 growth scrub oak woodland. .Although the birds arrive early in April, 

 they do not commence nest building until the latter part of that month, 

 and it is often well into May before full complements of eggs are found. 

 I noted three nests of this species, two of which were placed on the extrem- 

 ity of horizontal limbs of scarlet oaks. These two nests were so close to 

 the ground that by bending the limbs down a few inches, the contents 

 could be easily examined. In striking contrast to the low heights at which 

 these two nests were placed, was one I found on May 13. It was built 

 almost at the extreme end of a horizontal limb of a huge black gum at a 

 height of approximately fifty-five feet, and was inaccessible. The two nests 

 whose contents I was able to examine each contained four eggs. Dates 

 were May 8 and 20. The Summer Red-bird constructs a very shallow and 

 flimsy nest, almost always composed wholly of the bleached stems of 

 the wild pepper plant, which abounds in the south Atlantic states, and in 

 nearly every instance the eggs are visible from the ground through the 

 nest. The three nests noted by me were located in a tract of mixed 

 woods near Allenhurst. 



