102 



OEOTTHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 12-ISro. 7 



On March 14th, 1887, while rambling around 

 Edding Island, I found a dead palmetto stump 

 with a very "convenient"' looking hollow in the 

 top. It was a little too high to look in, so I 

 tapped it lightly with the butt of my gun and 

 was pleased to hear a slight scratchhig on the 

 inside in response. 



'•Coon," I said to myself, without a moment's 

 hesitation, and I tip-toed ott" and got a good solid 

 cedar limb with which I effectually plugged the 

 cavity. Then I essayed to push the stump over 

 but it resisted all my efforts. The scratching 

 inside continued, so at that I located the exact 

 spot where I supposed my coon to be and let 

 drive a charge of buck shot. IniHglne my cha- 

 grin when instead of a good fat coon I found 

 only the mangled body of a little female Spar- 

 row Hawk. 



Upon enlarging the opening made by the 

 shot I extricated what remained of a nest. 

 The material was small sticks and cedar bark 

 but no eggs. The Rice Field Mouse often 

 builds its nest in such localities but the mate- 

 rial is always fine grass and weeds, which in 

 this case were not present. 



Nesting of the Ground Dove. 



BV T. D. PERRY, SAVANNAH, GA. 



/ 



This beautiful and timid little species {Cham- 

 cepelia passerina) is the smallest of its tribe. It 

 is a constant resident with us here, being quite 

 abundant from Cuba to South Carolina, and 

 amongst the many islands that dot the coast. 



Their breeding season covers a long period, 

 commencing as it does early in April, and con- 

 tinuing through June, and sometimes July. I 

 have found their nests as early as April 9th, 



with eggs slightly incubated ; and as late as 

 July 9th with fresh eggs. 



The nest is a vei*y slight affair, consisting of 

 a few twigs and pine needles, and very often of 

 grass and pine needles. The birds seem to have 

 no reguhir place for its location. In one in- 

 stance I found it on the ground, and in another 

 case it was on a stump. Generally, however, 

 it is located in vines, or in a pine sapling, or 

 a niyi'tle bush. The height from the ground 

 varies from two to six feet in most instances, 

 though I once found a nest that was ten feet up, 

 and another that was twenty feet from the 

 ground. These latter cases are the exception, 

 however. 



They seem to prefer the pine lands, where the 

 undergrowth of young saplings makes the wood 

 dense, and here their nests are generally found. 

 The eggs are alwaj^s two in number, of a white 

 or creamy color, and average about .8Gx.G2 in 

 size. 



Nesting of the Black Skimmer, 



BY CHAS. S. SHICK. 



This truly singular bird is the only species of 

 its genus hitherto discovered. It is very sin- 

 gular in appearance, and the odd conformation 

 of its bill has excited much surprise among the 

 leading ornithologists of the world. 



The Black Skimmer {Bhynrhops nigra) ^ de- 

 rives its name from the habit it has of skim- 

 ming, while on the wing, the surface of the 

 ocean for its food, which consists of shrimps, 

 small fish, etc. 



It breeds in great numbers on the low sand- 

 bars and dry, flat sands on the coast of New 

 Jersey. The Skimmers make their appearance 

 early in May and remain till the latter part of 

 September. 



They commence to laj^ early in June, the 

 nests being a mere hollow in the dry sand. 

 The female generally lays three eggs, although 

 I have found numerous sets of four. The eggs 

 are oval in shape, of a clear white color, spot- 

 ted and blotched with brownish black, inter- 

 mixed with others of a pale lilac color. 



On their arrival in the spring, they form 

 themselves into small societies; ten or fifteen 

 pairs frequently breeding within twenty-five 

 yards of each other. Of the seventy-five or 

 more sets observed by me, during 1885 and 

 1886, seven sets contained four eggs each, 

 while the rest wei-e composed of three eggs 

 each. Some of these sets were very odd in 

 markings. 



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