THE OOLOGIST 



87 



where more available, which makes the 

 task of rearing the young less difficult. 

 For birds are very thoughtful and are 

 always ready to take advantage of bene- 

 fits in the way of extra security for their 

 breed. The Meadow Lark builds out 

 in the field among the tussocks of grass, 

 but generally constructs a canopy over 

 the top of its home which helps to con- 

 ceal the white, pink-spotted eggs. The 

 Bobolink uses grasses and fine roots, 

 and in my estimation conceals its nest 

 more completely than does any other 

 bird which builds on the ground, or 

 near to it. 



MOKRIS GiBBS, M. D. 



Kalamazoo, Mich. 

 To be continued. 



Nests and Eggs. 



Birds as a rule are quite constant to 

 their choice of positions for their nests, 

 and rarely change materially from se- 

 lected sites. But this preference for a 

 particular spot or situation is some- 

 times varied, and the changes are inter- 

 esting to note, as it shows the range 

 which a species may take in nesting. 

 One Robin's nest was built in a corn 

 crib; another on the girth of a barn. 

 One nest was found on the top of a 

 stump, two feet above the water of a 

 millpond, and twenty feet or more from 

 shore. Several Robin's nests have been 

 iound in hollows of stubs, and one in a 

 side-tracked freight car; still another 

 in a chimney. Several have been dis- 

 covered on the ground, and one on the 

 cut ends of old corn stalks. These few 

 exceptions may show the wide range 

 that one species may take. 



A Chipping Sparrow's nest was taken 

 irom the side of a large straw stack, 

 and one season I found a nest on a 

 very peculiar situation. It was perhaps 

 built by the same pair of birds, as it 

 was only a few rods from the old straw 

 stack, and was placed in the upper 

 working gear of a self-binder, housed 



in an old shed on the farm, and con- 

 tained four eggs 



One Chickadee's nest, with eggs was 

 placed on a cross piece in a woodshed 

 nearly in the center of a populous vil- 

 lage. This double departure from a 

 standard was remarkable in this little 

 bird. 



A Great crested Flycatcher built in 

 the hollow end of a rail on a fence, 

 and a Kingbird nested in a cavity of 

 a stump, only three feet from the 

 ground. A peculiar place for a Phoebe's 

 nest was on the under side of the ex- 

 posed parts of an overturned tree [not 

 an unusual site in Western New York — 

 Ed ] in a beech and maple woods. An- 

 other of the nests of this species was sit- 

 uated under the eaves after the manner 

 of the Eave Swallow; still others were 

 attached to the cavernous interior of a 

 huge sycamore. Of course this last sit- 

 uation was a common one in an early 

 day, but is now rarely seen since the 

 Pewee has adopted the premises of man 

 and selected the sheds and bridges for 

 its nesting sites. 



Eave Swallows, as they are now 

 called, formerly built their nests at- 

 tached to the faces of cliffs, yet now 

 they are rarely found in such a position, 

 and I may say that of all the birds 

 known to me that the Eave Swallow is 

 the most constant to one situation. A 

 remarkable instance truly, where a 

 species has changed its habit so radi- 

 cally. Barn Swallows are not nearly 

 so constant, and sometimes vary their 

 habit by building outside like the Eave 

 or Cliflf Swallows. 



Chimney Swifts not rarely build in 

 the gables of barns, and still occa- 

 sionally in the huge hollows of the 

 giant sycamores as they did before the 

 advent of the white man. The Night- 

 hawk, another insect feeder, has modi- 

 fied its habits, and occasionally nests 

 on the gravelled roofs of the city stores. 

 This custom was quite common for sev- 

 eral seasons in Kalamazoo. The Wood- 



