THE OOLOGIST. 



337 



ious looking clump of stubble, and in- 

 vestigating it I found myself gazing in- 

 to a nest which I at first took to be an 

 unusual one of the Grass Finch, but 

 which a second look convinced me to 

 be a strange one to me. 



It was composed of fine dry grasses, 

 and a portion of these intertwined with 

 the stubble in which the nest was situ- 

 ated, formed a very neat canopy, with 

 an entrance on the side, facing the 

 west. 



In removing the nest the canopy 

 seemed to settle and unite with the rim. 

 The nest exhibited the following meas- 

 urements: Diameter outside 4$ inches, 

 inside 2+ inches; depth outside 3 inches, 

 inside 2| inches. 



The contents were a beautiful set of 

 five eggs, of a clear white ground color, 

 thickly marked with fine specks and 

 larger blotches of pale reddish-brown 

 and lilac, congregating most thickly 

 about the larger end, where in several 

 cases they formed a quite distinct 

 wreath. They were what might be 

 termed pyriform-oval in shape. 



No bird was around, and the eggs 

 being cold and damp, the nest had no 

 doubt, from some cause been deserted. 

 Incubation proved to be fresh. 



The nest was sunk in the ground, the 

 canopy ancLa firm, well built rim about 

 one-half inch wide being above the sur- 

 face. 



Although I had never actually ob- 

 served the Yellow-winged Sparrow 

 breeding here, I knew it to be a sum-' 

 mer resident, and had no hesitation in 

 ascribing the identity of this nest to it. 

 The eggs would average in size .75x.55. 



On June 23d I was convinced of the 

 accuracy of the identity of this set, be- 

 yond a doubt, as while walking along a 

 path through a clover meadow, I saw 

 seated on a nest in a clover tuft beside 

 the path, one of these beautiful little 

 birds. It never left the nest till my 

 hand was almost upon it, when it dart- 

 ed off in a quick zig zag flight for a few 

 rods and settled in the grass. 



With the exception of the canopy 

 covering, which in this case Avas want- 

 ing, nest and eggs were the exact 

 counterpart of the first ones. 



Leaving the nest undisturbed, I next 

 morning went with my gun and se- 

 cured the bird as it left the nest. It 

 proved to be the male, of about the ty- 

 pical coloring, with the usual bright 

 yellow wing edging, but with less of a 

 yellowish cast than is usual, in the 

 median line, interscapsulars, and under 

 feathers. 



The nest measured: Diameter out- 

 side 4 inches, inside 2$ inches; depth 

 outside 3 inches, inside 2£ inches. Like 

 the first nest, the bottom was frail and 

 the remainder of the structure rather 

 more poorly built. Incubation in this 

 set was advanced. 



This bird is of quiet inconspicuous 

 nature, its coloring from a distance 

 rendering it similar to the really much 

 larger G<.'ass Finch in the eye of the 

 casual observer, its song blending with 

 that of winged insects, (causing it to be 

 called Grasshopper Sparrow) 

 and from these causes it often remains 

 unsuspected where really not uncom- 

 mon. 



The stomach contents of the above 

 specimen partook of both insect and 

 vegetable nature. 



Phelps, N. Y., Sept. 2, 1894. 



Collecting viz : — Oologlical. 

 ( Continued from page 328. ) 

 es where it lays and makes it less con- 

 spicuous, and as to shape we see a 

 most plausible explanation in the 

 Sept. Oologist— but why white on the 

 inside, and why such variation in shape 

 and size of egg in the same nest. In 

 connection with Oology there has been 

 a great amount of collecting done, but 

 very little studying. Coloration is au 

 especially fertile field — particularly so is 

 the coloration of sets — a comparison of 

 the circumstances are different and the 

 eggs are different. With a fairly large 



