184 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 15-No. 12 



A New Trait of the English Sparrow. 



Last summer I was told by a young clergy - 

 mail that wlien he was in college lie used to 

 watch a pair of Robins that had a nest in a 

 bush below his window. There were two eggs 

 in the nest. One day he looked out of the 

 Aviiulow and saw in place of the eggs two downy 

 young birds. A day or two after he was again 

 at the window witli a companion, when they 

 perceived tliat there was only one young bird 

 in the nest. While they were wondering why 

 one should have disappeared, the old Robins 

 dew away to get food, when a dock of English 

 Sparrows came to the nest, and pecked and 

 scratched the remaining young one until it 

 was dead, finally lifting it bodily and dropping 

 it to the ground below. The young men hur- 

 ried down below the nest, but the young 

 Robin was dead and very much mutilated, 

 while the Sparrows iiail disappeared. 



I have always thought the English Spar- 

 row a miserable scamp, but the above trait is a 

 surprise, and a new source of indignation 

 against this pest. Henri/ L. Bcaijcl. 



New Urifihton, Staten Island, N. Y. 



Who Will Furnish the Incubator? 



Did any one ever take twenty-four eggs from 

 the nest of one bird in a season '> I did, tliis 

 year. On May 4tli I took a set of six eggs of 

 the Western Bluebird from a nest built in a 

 bird box, and on the Kith there were seven 

 more eggs in it. J took five of these, leaving 

 two, and as an experiment, put three fresh 

 eggs of the Western Chipping Sparrow in with 

 them. The Bluebird, for some reason, tlirew 

 her own eggs out of tlie nest, but hatched out 

 the "Chippie's."" As soon as they were old 

 enough to leave the nest the male bird took 

 care of them until they were large enough to 

 care for themselves. 



A month later there was a set of six egas in 

 the nest, which I took, and by .July Sth there 

 were five more. The birds, no doubt feeling 

 discouraged by this time, deserted the nest. 



1 also took a set of five eggs from the same box, 

 and perhaps the samebird as well, the yearbef ore* 



There was a pair of Violet-green Swallows 

 trying to nest in another box near by, and 

 every time the eggs of tlie Bluebird were 

 taken tlie Bluebirds would try to drive the 

 Swallows away from their home, and on one 

 occasiim threw all of the nest out of the box. 

 They evidently thought the Swallows destroyed 

 their eggs, and took i-evenge in this way. 



Salem. ()iPi;oii. Cli/di'L. Kfllrr. 



•White-bellied Swallows Occupy a 

 Chimney Before Migrating. 



About the first of t^eptember last, while 

 standing at my store dotir just before dark, I 

 saw a large fiock of White-bellied Swallows 

 hovering around the chimney of Odd Fellows' 

 hall, which is opposite. While watching them 

 they began to go into the chimney, sometimes 

 a half dozen at once. This continued until all 

 had disappeared in the chimney. There must 

 have been at least one hundred and fifty. A 

 neighbor, coming along at the time, informed 

 me that he had seen tliem go in the chimney 

 for a week. Is this not a rare occurrence? 



Lynn, Mass. N. VickaVTj. , 



Handsome Eggs of the Sparrow 

 Hawk. 



In a large series of eggs one is almost sure 

 to see one or more sets that are especiallj'^ 

 handsome. So it is with the series of eggs 

 of the Sparrow Hawk {Falco t^parverius) now 

 before me. The series consists of thirty-one 

 sets, and was selected with great care to ex- 

 hibit all the variations to which the eirers of 

 this bird are subject. I thought this object 

 had been accomplished before the arrival of 

 the set I now desire to refer to, but the latter 

 was so entirely difterentfrom all the others that 

 it took me completely by surprise when it was 

 unpacked. 



The eggs were collected March 29, 1889, at 

 Archer, Florida, and are unquestionably to be 

 referred to this bird, but they are entirely 

 dift'erent from any others tliat I have ever seen. 

 Their ground color i.s a pure, dazzling white, 

 and largo portions of their surface are entirely 

 unmarked. Now this is very different, to begin 

 with, from all other sets of eggs of this bird 

 that I have ever seen, and they number 

 several hundred. In other sets tlie ground 

 color is so covered with very minute specks of 

 color as to impart a reddish hue to it — some- 

 times (piite obscuring it, but this characteris- 

 tic is entirely wanting in these. Then, too, 

 the markings are of a brighter tint on tliese 

 eggs than on any others of F. .sparreriufi that 

 have come under my notice. Tliey consist of 

 large blotches and sjiots of very bright hazel 

 and cinnamon-rufous, made doubly bright by 

 their contrast witli the pure white ground 

 color, and the entire absence of the minute 

 sjiecks above referred to. 



On three of the eggs these blotches and 

 spots are groii]>e(l at tlie larger ends; on the 



