16 



THE OOLOGTST. 



nesting in rookeries in the small groves 

 of white oaks and sycamores which dot 

 the meadows. They nest early; com- 

 plete sets may be expected as early as 

 March 31, and young birds have been 

 taken at that early date. The nest is 

 usually placed well out of reach, either 

 in the lips of a horizontal branch or in 

 the extreme top of the tree, but this is 

 aiot always the case, many being built 

 in the center of the tree, and once or 

 twice I have found them on a horizon- 

 tal limb or in a crotch. The nest is an 

 elaborate affair, and is very frequently 

 built on the remains of last year's nest. 

 The foundation is laid of a batch of 

 coarse twigs, averaging larger than a 

 lead pencil, and A^ery frequently are 

 broken from living trees, as I have 

 found them, in new nests, with fresh 

 broken ends. The structure is then 

 cupped with a solid, large cup of mud 

 or horse-dung, with humerous twigs 

 imbedded in it. This cup is generally 

 about 7 or 8 inches in internal diameter 

 and 5 or 6 deep, with walls about 1 

 inch thick. 



The interior is lined with a thick 

 coating of very line, hair-like grass- 

 stems and horsehair and the whole is 

 surmounted with a latticed dome of 

 coarse twigs, iu some cases two feet in 

 height, but generally from about 10 to 

 15 inches, with a hole in one side for 

 entrance. The Magpies spend a long 

 time building their nests. Nests well 

 under way in the fore part of February 

 will not have the eggs until the first or 

 second week in April. 



On March 31, 1895, we made our first 

 trip to the rookery near here. Owing 

 to the late rains the birds were not 

 quite ready for us, so we secured but 

 one set of eight fresh eggs, which were 

 taken from a large nest about 50 feet 

 from the ground in a small oak. Sev- 

 eral nests held "sets" of from 1 to 4 

 eggs which were left for future visits. 



On April 7 we again were on the 

 scene bright and early and at once 



commenced operations. The first nest 

 I examined was in a small white oak, 

 in the topmost twigs and about 30 feet 

 from the ground and held eight fresh 

 eggs. After packing up I tackled the 

 next one. This was in a giant white 

 oak and situated in the extreme tip- 

 twigs of a nearly uhorizontal branch 

 about 40 feet from the ground and held 

 six fresh eggs. Oa returning to this 

 nest a week later I found the bird had 

 one more egg. This was all I got that 

 day though my two brothers each got a 

 set or two. 



On April 10th, at another rookery, I 

 took a slightly incubated set of five 

 from a nest in a white oak 30 feet up, 

 and a very highly incubated set of five 

 from a locality very similar. In fact, of 

 over 30 nests examined inApril andMay, 

 '95, all, with one exception, were plac- 

 ed in white oaks, at heights varying 

 between 20 and 60 feet. The exception 

 was one placed at the top of a locust 

 tree, and at the risk of making a pin- 

 cushion of myself, 1 took 7 highly incu- 

 bated eggs from it on May 18th. 



On April 14th we again visited the 

 rookery, this time with better success. 

 The first nest examined was ia an oak 

 about 30 feet from the ground and held 

 7 fresh eggs. The next was similarly 

 situated and held six very slightly in- 

 cubated eggs. One nest was found to 

 contain six young birds. On summing 

 up we found we had four sets of six, 

 four sets ot seven, and two sets of 

 eight, all either fresh or very slightly 

 incubated. 



On April 21st took one set of seven, 

 incubation nearly f, two of six. incu- 

 bation nearl.y I, one of seven, incuba- 

 tion i, one of eight, incubation i and a 

 fresh set of six. The latest Set taken 

 was a set of six, about i incubated, on 

 May 29. Of dver 30 sets examined, 

 none were larger than eight or smaller 

 than five in number, and the greater 

 were of six and seven eggs. The eggs 

 show great variation in size, markings 



