The Oologist. 



VOL. X. 



ALBION, N. Y., MAR., 1893. 



NO. 3 



Chat and Cliff Swallow. 



The thrifty backwoods housewife, 

 "when she has a few apples and a few 

 ■currants, contrives to make a pie by 

 combining- the two. Readers, wil! you 

 •have a slice of Chat-Swallow pie. 



A late writer in the "O," states: that- 

 ^although the Yellow-breasted Chat is 

 Very abundant in her locality, she has 

 never yet discovered the nest. I don't 

 wonder. For two years 1 searched 

 faithfully the dense copses along the 

 -"Neosho River in Eastern Kansas for 

 ■nests of the noisy and ubiquitous Chat. 

 The second year, I found two. The 

 first was in a dense bush close against 

 a. leavy osage hedge; and about three 

 ifeet up. Contents: three newly Hedged 

 .y mug and one handsomely spotted egg. 

 The nest was found by accident, purely. 

 Nest number two was seated in the 

 -sparse top of a scrawny bush, six feet up 

 •the bush sfcandingquite alone in an open 

 Woodland beside the river. 



Father Chat was guarding the nest 

 :and its contents, — a swarm of ants, — 

 Avith jealous wrath. Hence the discov- 

 ery. This location was a very unusual 

 *one. 



In 1891, I found many nests. Con- 

 veruing these, I will let my Field Book 

 Sell its rambling story. 



I — May '29, Nest, of sticks and leaves, 

 liued with rootlets. In deuse copse 

 near water, a low bush.- One egg, 

 and three Cowbird eggs. Incuba- 

 tion advanced. 

 II — June 1, Nest, among black-berry 

 vines in orchard, one foot up, of 

 stems and grasses, lined with tine 

 grasses. Four eggs, and one of 

 Cowbird. Fresh. 

 -311 — June 1, r.est, in dense osage 



hedge, border of orchard, three feet 

 up as above. Three eggs and one 

 of Cowbird. Fresh. 

 IV— June 5, uest. in bush and vine, 

 standing aloue in clearing, three 

 feet up, a fine typical specimen. 

 Four eggs and one of Cowbird. 

 Fresh 

 V — June 12, Nest, three feet up, in a 

 hazel copse. Flimsy, of leaves and 

 grass. Deserted. Three eggs and 

 one of Cowbird, One egg in nest, 

 two on ground, one partly eaten, 

 and the Cowbird egg also partly de- 

 stroyed, on the ground. 

 Other nests, found, were deserted. 

 Some, contained' an egg or two, but 

 most vs ere empty. These observations 

 give the following data: 



The typical nest of the Yellow-breast- 

 ed Chat is large and broadly cupped, 

 like a Cardinal's. nest but deeper. Ma- 

 terials, externally, coarse stems, leaves, 

 paper, sticks; second layer, leaves, flat- 

 ly laid. Lining sparse, tine grasses, in 

 one instance a little horsehair. Loca- 

 tion, generally about three feet up in a 

 vertical crotch or among dense branch- 

 lets. Almost invariably well concealed. 

 Where available, "vine-tangles'' seem to 

 be preferred to any other location. 



Locality, the thickest copses to be 

 found near wooded streams. Kansas 

 nesting Date, first three weeks in June. 

 Eggs normally dull crystalline white, 

 speckled finely with cinnamon. The 

 specks are often assembled about the 

 large end of the egg. One specimen, 

 found on the ground under a deserted 

 nest, is rosy tinted, and exquisitely mar- 

 bled with cinnamon. 



The Chat is an especial victim of the 

 Cowbird. Considering the well-hidden 

 location of the nest, is this not strange ? 



