126 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 12-:N'o. 8 



l)irds came quite near, snapping their bills and 

 keeping up a continual hooting. Imagine my 

 disappointment after tliis perilous climl) to find 

 the nest occupied by three downy young of dif- 

 ferent sizes, and a half of a rabbit's carcass ! 



Marcli 24th. Found a family of thi-ee young 

 Bilbos, in the downy plumage, in a lioUow, soft 

 maple. This nest also contained a half-eaten 

 rabbit. 



March 30th. Found two nests of young 

 owls, one of three in a hollow elm, abont four- 

 teen feet from the ground. The other of three 

 also in a nest in a white oak forty or fifty feet 

 high. Did not disturb any of those young. 



SUMMARY FOR THE SEASON. 



Number of eggs found, 19 



'• young Owls, 12 



Total, 31 



" sets containining 4 eggs, 1 



u u u 2 " 5 



U II u 1 " 2 



^ nests built in trees, 8 



'■'• " " cavities, o 



From this summary it would appear that the 

 usual number of eggs laid is two or three; but 

 as the set of four shows the i-ule may be varied 

 from, even in this latitude. 



[Dr. Htrode's experience as to the number of 

 eggs laid by this bird agrees with tliat of col- 

 lectors fi-om all parts of the country, with the 

 exception of Mr. Charles F. Morrison's phe- 

 nominal sets of six. Perhaps, however, the 

 latter gentleman fed the birds on "Bird Invig- 

 orator" to make them lay a large number of 

 eggs ! 



In one particular, however. Dr. Strode is in 

 error. lie found one egg (fresh) on IVIarch 8th 

 and removed it. He tells us that he again vis- 

 ited the same nest on March 20th, when he 

 found tliree more eggs, in which incubation 

 had connnenced. He then calls the four eggs 

 one set! This is incorrect. The first egg 

 having been removed, the birds commenced to 

 lay a second set, which consisted of three. — J. 

 P. N.] 



Nesting of the Brown-headed Nut- 

 hatch. 



BY C. S. BRIMLEY, RALEIGH, N. C. 



Previous to this year my experience in regard 

 to the nesting of this bird was very limited, 

 only one nest having come under my observa- 



tion ; one found in the early part of June, 1885, 

 containing four full-fledged young. The nest 

 was of grass, in a hole in the side of a fence 

 post. Just above it was an old unused nest 

 precisely similar to the one below. 



Last year, 188G, I found no nests, though I 

 watched a pair working at a hole in a dead wil- 

 low for some time ; but when after allowing 

 them, as I thought, sufficient time to build the 

 nest, lay eggs and commence incubating, I 

 went to get the eggs on April 24th, I found 

 nothing in the hole at all, not even a nest, al- 

 tliough the birds exhibited great distress and 

 anxiety; nor could 1 find any other hole which 

 might have contained one. This year, how- 

 ever, I have been somewhat more fortunate, 

 having found three nests, only one of which 

 contained eggs, the other two young. 



The first nest was found on April 13th. The 

 day before an acquaintance of mine, who knew 

 my ornithological tastes, told me he knew of a 

 Tomtit's nest in a stump near his house. On 

 going over next day to investigate, I was both 

 pleased and surprised when on approaching the 

 stump a bird fiew out of a hole in the side and 

 settling on the trunk of a neighboring tree, was 

 immediately identified as a Brown-headed Nut- 

 hatch. I at once set to work to investigate, 

 and cutting away the sides of the Ixole, six eggs 

 snugly ensconced in a lining of grass, lay at 

 the bottom of the hollow about nine inches be- 

 low tlie entrance, wliich was only some one 

 and a half to two feet from the ground. The 

 eggs wei'e all thickly spotted, tliree of them so 

 much so as to almost hide the white ground 

 color. 



The discovery of this nest encouraged me to 

 look for more, and three days later, on April 

 10th, after watching a pair for some time, one 

 of them flew ofi" and lighting on a dead apple 

 stump in an orchard close by, went into a hole. 



I quickly followed, antl on my approach the 

 bird flew out again. On cutting away the sides 

 of the hole I found six half-grown young in a 

 nest composed of grass. The hollow was nine 

 inches deep. The entrance hole was almost 

 perfectly round, as in tlie previous one, and 

 just large enough to allow of two fingers be- 

 ing thrust in. 



My third nest was found on April 20th, while 

 searching for Hooded, Worm-eating and other 

 swamp warblers in a piece of marsliy woods 

 adjoining the creek. While thus employed the 

 behavior of a pair of Nuthatches led me to 

 think they had a nest close by; so leaning 

 against a tree I stayed to watch them, and af- 

 ter a few minutes waiting one flew into a stub 



