40 



THE OOLOGIST. 



low Warbler, Cowbird aad Cedar Wax- 

 wing, many of which are less than half 

 the normal size and defy identiiication. 

 R.W. Johnson. 

 Port Hope, Ont. 



Eggs of Belted Piping Plover- 



As I am not aware that the eggs of 

 this species has been pi'eviously record- 

 ed, perhaps the following will be of in- 

 terest to the readers of the Oologist. 



Mr. Oliver Spanner, Taxidermist, of 

 Toronto, after reading "Bird Nesting 

 in N. W. Canada," decided to make a 

 trip to Lake Manitoba to collect eggs 

 and skins and while there he was for- 

 tunate to take eggs and skins of the 

 Belted Piping Plover. He found a nest 

 containing three eggs on June 19, 1895, 

 at Birch Island and shot the female as 

 she left the nest and both the eggs and 

 skin are now in my collection. 



The nest consisted of a depression in 

 the sand lined with a few weeds and 

 the eggs are pale buff, finely spotted 

 with black and purple grey. At the 

 same time he secured young birds in 

 down, and also shot several specimens 

 of Solitary Sandpipers which were no 

 doubt mating in the vicinity. 



W. Raine, Toronto. 



Peculiar Nesting Sites. 



Sometimes birds select such unusual 

 sites to build their nests that we may 

 wonder why they do so when there are 

 plenty of natural sites in the locality. 

 There is a large deep gulley which runs 

 ■at right angles from Keuka Lake and 

 in some parts of this gulley are perpen- 

 dicular banks of slatestone but mostly 

 covered with large coniferous ti'ees. 



Projecting from one of these bare 

 slatestone banks there is a narrow ledge 

 or shelf of rocks which is about 100 feet 

 from bottom of valley and 35 feet from 

 top. Above this ledge the Dank is cov- 



ered with moss, ferns and shrubs, while 

 below it is bare and concave. 



It was in the middle of May, 1889, 

 that I first noticed this shelf, and out 

 of curiosity I let myself down upon it 

 by holding onto some firm roots which 

 protruded from the bank, when lo! I 

 discovered that I had dropped into a 

 Great Horned Owl's nest and there sat 

 a young Donwy Bubo trying his best to 

 stare me out of countenance. JSIo at- 

 tempt had been made to build a nest- 

 merely a depression in the loose pieces 

 of slatestone. In a crevice near the 

 nest there was stuffed a Ruffed Grouse 

 which was fresh and'about half eaten. 



Another peculiar site was selected by 

 a pair of Chimney Swifts down in a 

 well 10 feet from top of curbing and the 

 nest being glued onto a smooth hard 

 stone and contained a family of five. 

 I removed the curb which :was a box 

 affair about 3 feet square and went 

 down to examine the nest. While do- 

 ing so the parents made frantic efforts 

 to reach their dusky children by diving 

 with the speed of an arrow into the 

 misplaced cui'b. I afterwards learned 

 that the young birds got out safely. 

 Date of finding nest July 14, 1895. 



Again on July 35, 1895, I discovered 

 another nest of Chimney Swift in the 

 garret of flour mill where noisy cog 

 wheels and rumbling machinery keep 

 up an incessant racket. Yet these 

 plucky birds glued their nest to the 

 board siding and reared a family of 

 five. How they ever darfed into the 

 small opening in the peak of mill with- 

 out getting caught in belts and cog 

 wheels is a mystery to me. It may be 

 of interest to add that although the 

 ever-present English Sparrow enters 

 this same hole to feed on the grain 

 scattered about. The.y did not disturb 

 the Swifts in any mannei. Nor have 

 the English Sparrows ever attempted 

 to build nests in the garret although 

 there ara thousands of them here. 

 C. F. Stone. 

 Branchport, N. Y. 



