170 



OKOTTHOLOGIST 



[YoL 12-No. 10 



eggs were laid about March 31st, as the young 

 were on the point of hatching. 



My second nest was taken April 26th. I saw 

 tlie birds when they coninieuced to build it. It 

 was built in a bunch of moss, and made of 

 essentially the same materials as the last, and 

 was about tliirty feet from the ground, in a 

 live oak tree. 



The eggs in this set are four in number, and 

 were perfectly fresh. They are an exquisite 

 set, being beautifully spotted with lilac, bright 

 red, and different shades of brown, around the 

 larger end, in a large wreath, upon a white, or 

 creamy white ground. They are very much 

 pointed, and iu shape resemble the eggs of 

 certain Waders. 



Published accounts are so rare as regards the 

 breeding of this Warbler, that I thought the 

 foregoing would be of interest to oologists. I 

 only know of six sets of eggs of this Warbler 

 in collections. 



The Number of Eggs in a Set. 



BY F. L. BURNS, BERWYN, PENN. 



Having read from time to time in the O. and 

 O. the opinion of many collectors on this sub- 

 ject, I venture to give my limited experience in 

 this line. I commenced collecting in 1885, and 

 for a time was ^'cheated" out of many sets, es- 

 pecially of our most common birds, by waiting 

 for the female to lay the number of eggs "bird 

 doctors" stated they did lay. In the mean time 

 the eggs would hatch, or be so hard set as to 

 be worthless. Many young collectors com- 

 plain of this, and now some take the eggs as 

 soon as found, complete set or not, claiming 

 that this is the only sure way. 



For instance, the Wood Thrush, {Hylocichla 

 musteUna) lays three more often than four eggs, 

 and I have yet to find a set of five ; and yet 

 most writers claim the usual set to be four or 

 five eggs. 



Of forty eggs and young of this species 

 found by me the past season, I find to be divid- 

 ed in sets as follows : 



Sets of 2 2 



" "3 8 



" "4 3 



In all eggs incubation had commenced, in 

 many cases advanced. 



The first set was taken May 30th, the last set 

 July 4th, but the majority were taken during 

 tlie first week in June. 



A Word of Caution. 



BY J. P. N. 



The attention of the present writer has re- 

 cently been called to the fact that certain 

 parties have lately been offering for sale some 

 very rare species of eggs at prices which would 

 seem to indicate that the eggs they advertise 

 cannot be genuine — or at least that they must 

 be closely allied European species not distin- 

 guishable from those they are represented to 

 be. 



Thus when we hear of sets of eggs of the 

 Golden-crowned Kinglet, (Begulus satrapa) be- 

 ing ottered at f ortj"-five cents per egg ; sets of 

 American Eough-legged Hawk, (Archibuteo 

 laijopus sancti-johannis) at forty cents per 

 egg\ sets of Brown Creeper, {Certhia familiaris 

 rufa) at thirty-five cents per egg, and sets of 

 American Peregrine Falcon, (Falco peregrinus 

 ncevius) at one dollar and forty cents per egg^ 

 besides many other very rare species at equally 

 ridiculous prices, it is time to warn our readers 

 that if they buy them they run a very strong 

 chance of being imposed upon. Genuine eggs 

 of those species are worth far more, and are 

 not to be picked up every day either. 



Brief Shore Bird Notes. 



BY JOHN C. CAHOON. 



Our early flight of adult Sanderliugs, Eed- 

 breasted Snipe, Red-breasted Sandpipers and 

 Black-bellied Plovers occurred at about the 

 same time as the last season's one, but was 

 very light ; in fact the absence of all kinds of 

 shore birds has been very noticeable. The 

 south-east storms of the last two weeks have 

 increased the few scattering Black-bellied Plov- 

 ers into several good-sized flocks, mostly young, 

 also several small bunches of Great Yellow-legs 

 and Golden Plovers. 



Pectoral and Bonaparte's Sandpiper liave not 

 put iu an appearance as yet. A few young 

 Sanderling just arriving, also young Red- 

 backed Sandpipers. I have never seen an 

 adult Red-backed Sandpiper in the fall. 



Yesterday I saw several large flocks of Black- 

 bellied Plover on the beach at high tide. 



At present writing to-day, it has been stormy 

 with thick fog and the number of shore birds is 

 greatly inci*eased. I saw first Black Tern 

 (young) of the season to-night, some dozen in 

 number. 



Monomoy Island, Cape Cod, Aug. 25, 1887. 



