204 



OROTTHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 12-N6. 12 



with green mass und decorated with a few 

 cobwebs and lichens, aud unlike Mr. Carpen- 

 ter's nest was saddled to a spruce limb. It also 

 differs from his, being open at the top. The 

 wool is easily obtainable, sheep ranging at will 

 over the sparsely grown highlands. Though 

 supposed to l)e domesticated, the rams are 

 tough looking customers, and the whole flock 

 bore signs of cruel neglect, being sadly in need 

 of shearing when we met with them. The 

 wool collects on thoi-uy bushes and shrubberry 

 in considerable quantities, aud many birds take 

 advantage of the desirable material for a lining. 

 It is naturally coarse and poor, the sheep be- 

 ing obliged to shift for themselves the year 

 round, and the many skeletons noticed testify to 

 their inability to withstand the exposure of the 

 rigorous winters. They are piactically of no 

 nse save for auitton, the wool not attaining 

 fine even textui-e snitable for the market. But 

 to return to the kinglet's nest. It was taken on 

 or about June 1st, and contained ten eggs of a 

 dingy white ground. The confluently dotted 

 crown piesents the appearance of having come 

 in contact with a twirling motion to a finger 

 daubed with red chalk or ochre. The markings 

 being at first a heavy blotch and gradually 

 wearing down to a faint spot not wholly ob- 

 scuring the ground. The nuirk was invariably 

 confined to the crown, and was usually nearly 

 circular. Lack of tools prevented my taking 

 measurements, which could not have failed to 

 have been of interest in a so rare and little 

 known variety. 



Nesting of Traill's Flycatcher at 

 Grinnell. 



BY LVNDS .)()NE.s, GKINNELL, I(»WA. 



The nesting of the Empidonaces and Cuntopus 

 virptis for several years gave me no little trou- 

 ble. It was not until 1 had taken several birds 

 with their nests that I could always be sure 

 when I had a nest of Empidonax traiUi and not 

 that of some other Flycatcher. 



I have found many nests of this bird aud in 

 many ditterent positions. One nest was almost 

 pensile, placed between twigs of a small bush 

 a foot from the giound. Only a small part of 

 the nest projected above the horizontal twigs, 

 while three or four inches of the loose material 

 of which the nest was composed hung below. 

 The color, position aud material of the uest so 

 closely resembled that of the nest of Bell's Vireo 

 that at first sight I thought it was that, but a 



second glance showed me my mistake. This 

 was a very compactly made nest of the bark 

 fibres of weed stalks, intermingled with a little 

 dry grass aud a few long hairs from a cow's tail. 

 It was in the midst of a thicket of brush and 

 trees, a few rods from a small stream. 



Another nest very much like the last in mate- 

 rial was placed on a bough, and was far less 

 compactly built. This one was in a small tree 

 standing alone and overhanging a stream, and 

 was about six feet up. 



Two others I recall whose positions were 

 very unusual. The one was in a hedge-row of 

 willows, built into the upright forks much as is 

 the nest of Lanius or Goldfinch -or Yellovvbird. 

 This is a verj'' slovenly made nest. The other 

 was lashed to the side of an upright fork in 

 much the same manner as a grain sack is held 

 open to fiicilitate the improving of the grain, i. 

 e. held on only one side at the top. The latter 

 one was necessarily quite strongly made, for 

 its support was the lashing at the top. The 

 composition of both these nests was the same 

 as the first, and each contained four eggs. 



While the second form of nest mentioned is 

 not rare, yet the first is the common one and 

 the composition varies but little; at least the 

 nest is always largely made up of the soft fi- 

 brous bark of weed stalks, usually of a neutral 

 tint, preferably leaden-gray. And the nest 

 complement is three or four eggs, never more 

 than four. 



The nest may be found as earl}"^ as the first of 

 June and as late as the middle of July, but only 

 one brood is reared. 



While this bird usually frequents the woods 

 or willows immediately bordering a stream of 

 running water, yet we sometimes find it high 

 up on the hills and far from any stream. 



Large-sized Eggs of Mniotilta varia. 



BY .1. 1*. N. 



On April 20, 1887, Mr. W. B. McLaughlin 

 found a lemarkable set of eggs of the Black 

 and White Warbler (Mn^itiltn varin) in Ii-edell 

 County, North Carolina. Their peculiarity 

 consists in their size, which is truly extraordi- 

 nary for this species. There can be no question 

 as to their identity, as the bird was on the nest, 

 and Mr. McLaughlin has collected many sets, 

 and is thoroughlv familiar with them. The 

 nest was on the ground at the foot of a small 

 bush, and is characteristic of the species. 



The eggs are of a creamy white, beautifully 



