July 1890.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



101 



more heavily at the hxrger ends: .7Sx.65; 

 .S0X.G5; .78X.65; .TOx.Ho; .Six. 65. 



SetXIir. June 2,1888. Austin, 111. Nest 

 of dried grass, in a sli<;ht depression of the 

 ground. Five eggs, fresli. Drab-gray, heav- 

 ily spotted with burnt umber, csi)ocially at the 

 larger ends: .(KJx .0.",; .D^.n.O;!; .SOx.OH; 

 .89 X .(!2; .92 x .00. 



Set XIV. May ;W, 1888. Austin, 111. Nest 

 of grass, on ground, in a depression made by a 

 horse's hoof. Six eggs, fresh. Bluisli-gray, 

 very heavily spotted with drab-gray, and 

 bui'ut umber. The markings are heaviest near 

 the larger ends: .84x.64; .SSx.W; .88x.64; 

 .87X.61; .89X.68; .84x.63. 



Set XV. June :], 1883. Bristol County, 

 Miss. Nest of grass, in a hollow in the 

 ground in large meadow. Five eggs, incuba- 

 tum begun. Bluish-gray, spotted with drab- 

 gray and sepia. All the spots of the latter 

 color are near the larger ends: .82x.66; 

 .82 X .(io; .80 x .00; .S2 x .Co; .81 x .05. 



Set XVI. June 10, 1888. Austin, 111. Nest 

 on ground, in vacant lot on border of town. 

 Six eggs, incubation begun. The ground 

 color varies from drab to fawn color, and the 

 markings consist of spots and cloudings of 

 burnt umber and sepia; dispersed over the 

 surfaci-, but heaviest at the larger ends: 

 ,91x.04; .89x.()4; .8Sx.04; .84x.00; .87x.01; 

 .84\.04. 



Set XVIT. June 2, 1888. Austin, 111. Nest 

 of grass, in a depression in the ground. Six 

 eggs, incubation slight. The ground color 

 vavies from grayish to fawn, and the markings 

 consist of spots of Vandyke brown, sepia and 

 olive-gray, most of them being at the larger 

 ends: .87x.02; .88 x. 0:3; .80x.01; .85x.01; 

 .88x.0:3; .84X.59. 



Set XVIII. June 15, 1888. Austin, 111. 

 Nest of grass, on ground, in a clump of weeds. 

 Seven eggs, incubation commenced. Drab- 

 gray, very heavily spotted and blotched (and 

 with a few veins also) with sepia and burnt 

 umber: .84 X. 01; .S8x.01; .S;]x.01; .8Gx.62; 

 .HOx.fil; .SOx.O;^,; .SOx.Ol. 



Set XIX. June 3. 1888. Austin, 111. Nest 

 of dried grass, in a tussock of grass. Six eggs, 

 incubation advanced. The groinid color is 

 bluish-gray, but this is so closely spotted and 

 clouded with burnt umber that it is almost 

 hidden by the latter color. Near the larger 

 eufts the markings are heavier: .90x.04; 

 .87 X .03 ; .80 x .04 ; .87 x .05 ; .85 x .04 ; .78 x .01 . 



Set XX. May 20, 1888. Austin, 111. Nest 

 of dried grass, in a wag(m rut on prairie, south 

 of the town. Six eggs, incubation slight. 



Bluish-gray, heavily spotted and clouded, es- 

 pecially at the larger ends, with burnt umber: 

 .85X.62; .85x.01; .83x.01; .88x.01; .80x.01. 

 A peculiarity of the markings of the eggs of 

 this species is that they are not sharply 

 delined at the edges. They have a Idurrcd 

 appearance — something like a spot of water 

 color that has been wet and has run. J.P.N. 



Brown Creeper. 



It is late in the winter and old Boreas is 

 rattling the bare branches and whirling the 

 snow with unwonted savageness, for he is vent- 

 ing his spite in advance for the defeat he is soon 

 to suffer. In yonder moaning bit of pine 

 woods has gathered a little company of birds, 

 widely diverse in their mode of life, but called 

 together by the welcoiue shelter that the 

 sturdy pines extend to them. Here may be 

 seen the hardy Crossbills and Siskins braving 

 even the howling blast to obtain their favorite 

 pine cones; the noisy Blue Jay f(U- once awed 

 into silence uttering but a deprecatory squeak 

 at your intrusion and skulking a little further 

 into the forest. The staid and sober Nut- 

 hatch can be seen and heard as he searches 

 for dormant insects, accompanied by the ubi- 

 (juitous Chickadee whose varied and cheerful 

 notes make him doubly interesting. But last 

 and least, in size that is, far up on the trunk of 

 that old tree a timid, little peeping note can 

 be heard, and looking up you behold a little 

 Creeper moving about in an apologetic manner, 

 as if aware that he intrudes on the rather 

 limited larder of the Nuthatches and Chicka- 

 dees. 



But as the days slip by Boreas becomes 

 less and less obtrusive, and on awakening some 

 morning you find that spring has at last veri- 

 fied the prediction of her heralds, the Bobins 

 and Bluebirds. The Redpolls and Snow Bunt- 

 ing have followed their vanquished lord to the 

 frozen regions of the north, and the zealous 

 student of nature leaves even the bottomless 

 mud of the country roads in order to greet his 

 feathered friends. After a tour of the fields and 

 byways he finds himself once again among the 

 pines. The Creepers have acquired new con- 

 fidence by increase of numbers, and now take 

 their well-known spiral route about the trees 

 with a sprightly and joyous air that is in 

 marked contrast with his conduct of a few 

 weeks before. He has now a song which he 

 utters while in motion; it begins with a clear 

 whistle followed after a slight pauge by an 



