174 



ORlSriTHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 12-No. 10 



There is a sort of uniformity about most spe- 

 cies in the numbers of completed sets, and va- 

 riation is au exception, and in view of ray last 

 five year's experience I should consider five or 

 even four in a Kingbird's nest an exception in- 

 stead of usual. A completed set of Wood 

 Thrush, {Hijlocichla mustelina) is sure to num- 

 ber four, yet I once found five, and probably 

 as often three would prevail. In the case of 

 the Catbird, {Galcoscopti^s carulinensis) how uni- 

 formly does four complete her set. Au excess 

 has only once been presented to me, when on 

 May the 17th last, I found a nest containing 

 five ; and three eggs is as equally rare. 



The size of the eggs I have observed is usu- 

 ally aftected to a greater or less extent by the 

 number in a set. The common Red-shouldered 

 Blackbii-d, {A(jdaius ])h(£nic,eus) almost inva- 

 riably deposits its four, but I observed a rare 

 exception last spring. Near the salt meadows 

 in a patch of bushes were several nests easy of 

 access, and from one. I took a pretty set of six, 

 which were very small in size; and but a few 

 feet away was another nest with only three. 

 Both sets were incubated, showing them to be 

 complete, and I should really think that the 

 three in one nest would weigh nearly as much 

 as the six in another — the former being as 

 nmch larger than the average as the latter were 

 smaller. 



All of these points while bearing us impor- 

 tant scientific value, are full of interest to the 

 collector and show the value of a collection 

 made in series to exhibit the extremes of varia- 

 tion found in eggs of the same species. This is 

 a very prolific subject, there are so many causes 

 to which variation may be attributed, such as 

 the weather, gi-eater or less abundance of food 

 and the lap of previous nests ; but I fear I have 

 followed the subject further than readers will 

 be willing to follow me, and will perhaps rather 

 abruptly close. 



A Saw-whet Owl's Nest. 



As the nest of this bird {Nyctale acadica) is 

 quite rare, I will describe one which I found 

 this season, thinking it may interest some of 

 the readers of the O. and O. The 16th of May 

 found me in a large tract of woods hunting for 

 a nest of a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers which 

 I knew were breeding in the vicinity. Al- 

 though I was unsuccessful in finding what I 

 was particularly in search of, I stumbled upon 

 a nest which pleased me far more. 



Out of curiosity I visited a stub from which 



a set of Pileated Woodpecker's eggs were taken 

 two years ago. The large round hole from 

 which the eggs had been taken was visible at 

 some distance, and after passing behind some 

 trees I was much surprised to see this hole filled 

 with some grey substance. Upon a nearer ap- 

 proach I discovered this grey substance to be 

 the head of a Saw-whet Owl. I rapped on the 

 stub and shouted to drive her from the nest but 

 she only sat there and stared, evidently at a 

 loss to determine what sort of an animal I was. 

 Finding that I could not frighten the bird 

 from the nest, I stripped oft" my coat and pre- 

 pared to ''shin" the tree. This proved to be no 

 easy task as the tree was two feet in diameter 

 and the nest was fifteen feet from the ground 

 and there was not a branch on it. As soon as 

 I began to ascend the tree the owl fiew off and 

 lit in another tree about fifteen feet distant, 

 from where she silently watched me. After 

 considerable hard work I reached the liole and 

 was delighted to find five eggs at the bottom of 

 it. The hole was about a foot and a half deep, 

 and was lined with a few feathers. I could not 

 tell whether these were owl's feathers or the 

 feathers of some of its victims. I could not 

 reach into the hole with my coat on and could 

 not carry my collecting box without it, so I 

 had to bring the eggs down one at a time in my 

 mouth. The eggs were chalky white in color, 

 though pretty dirty, and were quite fresh. 

 They measure about 1.20x.92. 



Nesting of the Louisiana Water 

 Thrush, 



1$Y K. 15. MCLAUGHLIN, STATESVILLE, N. C. 



The Louisiana, or Large-billed Water Thrush 

 {Siurus motacilla) is a common summer visi- 

 tant in western north Cai'olina, arriving regu- 

 larly between the 25th and 30th of March, and 

 it begins to nest usually about the 10th of 

 April. When feeding it frequents the larger 

 water courses but for nidification prefers the 

 smaller ones flowing into them. 



Fancy a small clear stream flowing through 

 dense woods and over a pebbly or stony bed, 

 the banks green with moss and fern and over- 

 hung by wild honey-suckle and laurel bushes. 

 Such is the one selected by the Water Thrush 

 as a nesting site, and after a short journey 

 down stream it has access to the marshes which 

 afford it ample feeding ground, and thus it is 

 that it gains all of the advantages of the larger 

 streams without any of the disadvantages, not 



