NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS. 333 



[764]. Red-spotted Bluethroat. Cyanecula suecica. 



Range. Northern Asia; casually to Alaska. 



This beautiful foreigner nests on the ground and lays four to six greenish blue 

 eggs, spotted with reddish brown; size .75 x .50. 



765. Wheater. Saxicola cenanthe. 



Range. Asia; casual in Alaska in summer; nesting habits and eggs like the 



765a. Greenland Wheater. S. ce. leucorhoa. 



Range. Europe and Greenland; casual on the Atlantic coast 

 of North America. 



This very abundant Old World species is a common breed- 

 ing bird in Greenland and probably also in Labrador. They 

 nest in crevices of quarries, holes in the ground, or stone 

 walls, making a rude nest of weeds, moss or grasses, lined 

 with hair or feathers, and during May lay from four to six pale f p ale greenish blue.] 

 greenish blue eggs; size .90 x .60. 



766. Bluebird. Sialia sialis. 



Range. Eastern United States, breeding from the Gulf to southern Canada. 

 Winters in the southern half of the United States. 



These familiar birds build in cavities in trees, usually below 

 20 feet from the ground, crevices among ledges, bird boxes 

 and in any suitable nook they may discover about buildings, 

 providing that English Sparrows do not molest them. They 

 raise several broods a year, commencing in April when they 

 lay from three to six pale bluish white eggs (rarely pure 

 [Bluish white ] white); size .80 x .60. The cavities of their nesting sites are 

 lined with grasses and feathers usually, although I have 

 found the eggs on the unlined bottom of cavities in trees. 



766a. Azure Bluebird. S. s. azurea. 



Range. This pale variety is found in southern Arizona and southward. 



Its nesting habits are the same and the eggs are indistinguishable from the 

 last. 



767. Western Bluebird. Sialia mexicana occidental-is. 

 Range. Pacific coast from Lower California to British Columbia. 



The Western Bluebird is as common and familar in its range as the common 

 Bluebird is in the east. It nests in similar locations and its eggs are scarcely 

 distinguishable, although averaging a trifle darker in shade; size .80 x .60. 



767a. Chestnut-backed Bluebird. S.m.bairdi.. 



Range. Rocky Mountain region from Mexico to W T yoming. 



The nesting habits or eggs of this brighter colored bird do not differ from 

 those of the last species. 



767b. San Pedro Bluebird. S. m. anabetee. 



Range. San Pedro Martir Mountains in Lower California. 



The eggs of this variety will not in all probability be any different from those 

 of the preceding Bluebirds. 



768. Mountain Bluebird. Sialia arctictt. 



Range. Rocky Mountain region, breeding from New Mexico north to Great 

 Slave Lake; winters in southwestern United States and Mexico. 



This azure blue species is common in the greater part of its range and is found 

 west to the Sierra Nevadas in California. Like the eastern Bluebird they nest 

 in holes in trees or anywhere that they can find a suitable cavity or crevice. 

 Their eggs are slightly larger than those of the other Bluebirds and have a slight 

 greenish tint; size .85 x .64. 



