66 birds' eggs 



Among the flycatchers, the nest of the phoebe 

 is most concealed, at least from above, and her 

 eggs are white, while those of nearly all the 

 other species are more or less tinted and 

 marked. The eggs of the humming-bird are 

 white, but the diminutiveness of their recepta- 

 cle is a sufficient concealment. Another white 

 egg is that of the kingfisher, deposited upon 

 fish-bones at the end of a hole in the bank 

 eight or nine feet long. The bank swallow 

 also lays white eggs, as does the chimney swal- 

 low, the white-bellied swallow, and the purple 

 martin. The eggs of the barn swallow and 

 0115" swallow are more or less speckled. In 

 England the kingfisher (smaller and much more 

 brilliantly colored than ours), woodpeckers, the 

 bank swallow, the swift, the wry-neck (related 

 to the woodpecker), and the dipper, also lay 

 white eggs. 



A marked exception to the above rule is 

 furnished by the eggs of the Baltimore oriole, 

 perhaps the most fantastically marked of all 

 our birds' eggs. One would hardly expect a 

 plainly marked egg in such a high-swung, 

 elaborately woven, deeply pouched, aristocratic 

 nest. The threads and strings and horsehairs 

 with which the structure is sewed and bound 

 and sta^^ed are copied in the curious lines and 

 markings of the treasures it holds. After the 

 oriole is through with its nest, it is sometimes 

 taken possession of by the house wren in which 

 to rear its second brood. The long, graceful 

 cavity, with its fine carpet of hair, is filled 



