ORNITHOLOGIST 
[ Vol. 11-No. 7 


100 
so I would make use not of the rope alone, but of 
the tree also. 
One of the trees I climbed on this occasion con- 
tained eleven nests, but most of them were so far 
out on the limbs that I dared not venture to reach 
them, but had to content myself by standing in 
the main top above them al] and looking down 
upon the thirty beautiful eggs which they con- 
tained. The usual number to the nest seemed to 
be three, but several nests seen that day contained 
but two, and not a few contained four as the full 
nest complement. In no case did I find more 
than four eggs in any set. While the majority of 
the nests contained eggs, quite a number were 
filled with young of various sizes—some just from 
the shell, others almost ready to fly. In fact one 
young fellow that I tried to catch attempted to 
fly to another limb, missing which, he fell to the 
water below, his life paying the penalty for his 
rashness. 
From all indications it is safe to say that as 
early as the middle of May the nesting in this lo- 
cality is at its height. 
But our day in the swamp was not devoted 
wholly to the Herons. These were not the only 
birds which make it their summer home. The 
Red-winged Blackbird, (Ageleus pheniceus), was 
there in great numbers and their nests were seen 
hanging in the tall reeds or resting in the crotches 
of the buttonwoods. The Crow Blackbird, 
(Quiscalus quiscula), next to the herons the most 
numerous and noisy bird found there, was feeding 
its young in the nests built in large knot holes, 
tops of snags, forks of trees, and even in deserted 
and decaying Woodpecker holes. The Redstart 
flitted across the open space like a flame, and we 
found its beautiful, fluffy nest with three hand- 
some eggs in a small elm tree, The Maryland 
Yellow-throat hid in the coarse grasses along the 
edges of the marsh, and we felt sure its nest was 
there, though we did not find it. And in the 
thickets and haw-trees on the banks we found 
Doves, Catbirds and Brown Thrashers living to- 
gether and rearing their young in peace and con- 
tentment. And with what a thrill of delight did 
we discover that this swamp was the breeding 
place of the Golden Swamp Warbler, (Protono- 
taria citrea). Thad never before seen this beauti- 
ful bird alive and was delighted to find it nesting 
here in considerable numbers. 
Shortly after entering the swamp I caught a 
glimpse of a rather bright-colored bird as it flew 
from a hole in a small dead snag not far away 
and disappeared in a thicket near by. In exam- 
ining the snag to see what the hole might contain, 
I broke it off easily a few feet below the hole, 
and, with my fingers, could feel the eggs in the 
nest. Not feeling sure that I knew the bird, I 
stood the snag up against a tree and awaited its 
return. I had not long to wait, for soon the bird, 
solicitous for its treasures, came by short flights 
toward the nest. After she had entered the hole 
I scared her out again, and with a light load of 
“dust,” secured her for my cabinet. Presently the 
‘male came about and suffered a like fate. 
The nest contained five beautiful fresh eggs. 
Later in the day several other pairs were seen and 
four more sets of eggs were secured. The nests 
were found occupying deserted Sapsucker holes 
in usually small rotten trees or saplings, and varied 
from four to ten feet from the ground. The first 
one found was about six feet from the ground, in 
a very rotten snag not over four inches in diame- 
ter. The shell left by the excavation of the hole 
was very thin, less than halfaninch. The cavity 
was about four inches deep and was filled nearly 
to the top by the nest, which was composed 
almost entirely of some species of moss. All the 
other nests were similarly situated and constructed 
from similar materials. 
The eggs which are now before me vary con- 
siderably in markings as well as in measurements. 
The ground color is an enamel] white with quite a 
number of dull lilac spots which appear as if im- 
bedded beneath the surface. Above these are 
numerous other large chocolate spots and blotches 
which are more or less confluent about the larger 
end, where they frequently tend to arrange them- 
selves in an irregular ring, from which they de- 
crease in number toward the smaller end. A 
set of four in my collection from Muscatine, Iowa, 
has the blotches perceptibly smaller and less pro- 
nounced, and more evenly distributed over the 
entire surface. In general shape the egg-is an 
elliptical ovoid, tapering but slightly toward the 
smaller end. One set of five measures .75x.57, 
.73x.56, .75x.56, .70x.55, and .75x.57; another, 
.73x.55, .72x.55, .74x.54, .73x.55 and .72x.54; and 
still another, the Lowa set, .65x.55, .68x.57, .68x.54 
and .71x.55. The first two may be regarded as 
typical sets from this State, while the other is 
lighter in color markings and considerably shorter 
or more elliptical than any I have seen from 
Indiana. 
All the eggs we obtained were fresh or nearly 
so, and it is more than likely that but few, if any 
of the sets were completed. Most of those which 
were taken contained either four or five eggs each; 
others were examined which had from one to 
three eggs, and still others which were not yet 
completed. It thus seems probable that the full 
nest complement may be more than five, perhaps 
even six or seven, 
