248 



THE OOLOGIST. 



ish drab to a greenish nearly like 

 grass dried in the shade. 



This pond was covered with a 

 growth of rushes, flags and grass and 

 was a great nesting place for Coots, 

 Kails, Galinules, Bitterns, Black-birds 

 . and I found my first Mallards nest in it. 

 I had been very well pleased with sets 

 of 10 Coots, 13 of King Rail, etc., but 

 when I got to the shore where ray 

 friend John, who was helping me was 

 waiting he took ray breath away with, 

 the statement that he had not done very 

 well — only a set of 6 Bittern and 1-16 

 King Rail besides a few sets of 8 Coots. 

 The water in the pond varied from 6 

 inches to 2 feet. 



My third set was in a small pond near 

 the main swamp and had been found a 

 few days before- by "George" when it 

 had only one egg in it. 



The nest as usual was in a th ck 

 clump of rushes, nearly flat, and a very 

 flimsy affair, perhaps 8 inches aci'oss by 

 12 long. The eggs bein abou 4 inches 

 above the water. 



The color of these eggs is very diffi- 

 cut to describe. They run from a dark 

 .cream to the color of dead grass. 



The measurements are 2.05x1.48, 2.03 

 xl.50, 1.94x1.51, 2.07x1.48, average 2 02 

 xl.49. As will be seen the shortest egg 

 so far is the bi'oadest 1.94x1.51. 



The 4th set was found on the edge of 

 the swamp near where I had seen a pair 

 the day before and thought from their 

 actions they must have a nest close by. 

 I had given it up when I heard "George" 

 laughing and as he is a model small 

 boy for egg hunting who rarely makes 

 a noise I went to him at once and saw 

 something well worth laughing at, a 

 Bittern setting on her nest scolding just 

 as a setting hen Will, and with about 

 the same "chuck." -Her feathers were 

 all standing out and with her head 

 drawn back and bill open to its utmost 

 extent she was a comical sight and one 

 to be handled carefully, 



I gave her the basket to bite while I 



picked her up, but was disappointed to 

 find only two eggs. 



George put her under his arm and- 

 holding her head in his hand carried 

 her to the house and put her in a bar- 

 rel, where we were rewarded by an- 

 other egg next day. As she did not lay 

 again I supposed the set must have 

 been completed at 1-3. This was the 

 most flimsy nest of all; placed in a very 

 thin patch of rushes and not over two 

 inches thick and only wide enough to 

 hold the eggs. The water here was 

 only about 3 inches deep. These eggs 

 were taken on the 22nd of May. 



My next visit to the swamp wms made 

 on June 14th, but I found it rather late 

 for the American Bittern, some sets 

 found being ready to hatch. I got two 

 very good sets, of 4 each, one from the 

 large pond spoken of before. The first 

 set was discovered by the scolding of 

 the bird on the nest as in the case men- 

 tioned above. The nest was well hid- 

 den in a dense growth of rushes, at this 

 time 3 or 4 feet above the water and 

 the bird remained on it until 1 had 

 called my companion and prepared- to 

 take her when she flew a short distance. 

 The nest was a shallow platform of dead 

 rushes placed in a clump of green 

 rushes. 



Incubation had begun and as usual 

 varied several days. They measure 

 1.90x1.47, 1.91x1.50, 1.96x1.42, 1.91x1.42. 

 In color they are what might be called 

 a very dark cream, or cream with 

 dust mixed through it. 



Another set of 4 was taken in the 

 ponu where the set of 1-5 was found. I 

 did not take this set myself but the 

 boys informed me the nest was a shal- 

 low platform of reeds placed on the 

 broken stems of a clump of reeds, a few 

 inches above water level and over sev- 

 eral feet of water. 



They measure 2.04x1.48, 1.90x1.49 

 2.04x1.47, 1.94x1.45. Incubation begun. 



They are of the greenish color des- 

 cribed before. 



