120 



THI OOLOGIST 



find a nest, and, if possible, secure a 

 set of eggs. 



When I came near tlie farm liouse 

 I lieard the beautiful music of a wren's 

 song as he pei'ched on a fence post 

 below the farm yard. I at once began 

 the search for a nest. All small build- 

 ings were carefully inspected, with no 

 results. Finally I came to a small 

 wood shed very close to the dwelling 

 house. Going to the lower side of this 

 shed 1 saw a number of small twigs 

 protruding from a shelf formed by a 

 board which was nailed to a studding, 

 just beneath the floor. I placed my 

 hand back into the little room formed 

 by the board and felt some tiny eggs. 

 These I carefully removed, one by 

 one, until 1 had counted eight — ^that 

 was all — just eight; but that was cer- 

 tainly a large set. It was a very beau- 

 tiful clutch. The eggs were heavily 

 marked on the larger ends by thick 

 wreaths of dark red, and the entire 

 sh.ell surface was well speckled with 

 tiny reddish dots. The nest consisted 

 of a foundation of small twigs and 

 coarse mud stalks, and was warmly 

 lined with chicken feathers and horse 

 hairs. The nesting site was just three 

 feet above the ground, and only a 

 short distance from the back iiorch of 

 the house. This species of wren 

 seems very much to prefer the out 

 buildings about farm yards as a sum- 

 mer home; especially those situated 

 on ridges. The wrens return year af- 

 ter year to the same farm, and, if un- 

 disturbed, they will use the same nest 

 several times, only relining- it each 

 season. These birds rear two broods 

 in a season; the second set being de- 

 posited during late .Tune, or early 

 July. S. S. Dickey. 



Waynesburg. Pa. 



Two Unusual Sets. 



At Pequannock, N .T.. on May 1st, a 

 nest of the Song Sparrow, (Melospiza 

 melodia) was located in which were 



seven eggs. This nest was located 

 under a clump of sod on the west bank 

 of the canal and was discovered 

 through a noisy battle between two 

 females, apparently struggling for the 

 possession of the nest. It is my opin- 

 ion that two females had deposited 

 eggs in this nest owing to the uniform- 

 ity of four which were well incubat- 

 ed and the other three which indicat- 

 ed but slight traces of incubation. Be- 

 cause of this latter fact, I visited this 

 nest on the 5th and found four young 

 about a day old and the three other 

 eggs in the nest. On the 9th the nest 

 was again visited and found to con- 

 tain live young, two about a day old 

 and the others being the remaining 

 members of the first brood. At this 

 time three adult birds were bringing 

 food to the young, a male and two fe- 

 males. 



At Midvale on April 30th, 1913, a 

 nest of the American Crow (Corvus 

 brachyrhynchos) was located with 

 four eggs. Of this set, three were 

 quite normal in appearance, but the 

 fourth was of the usual ground color, 

 greenish white, but wholly devoid of 

 markings, except for a few spots about 

 the size of a pin head at the larger 

 end.' The eggs in this set measured 

 l..">8 X 1.10; 1.01 X 1.12; 1.00 x 1.14 

 and 1.5S x 1.15, the latter being the ab- 

 normal egg. This nest was visited on 

 the 12th of May and found to contain 

 three young, the abnormal egg being- 

 infertile and did not hatch. This the 

 adult birds had pushed to one side 

 among the coarse twigs which formed 

 the base of nest. 



Louis S. Kohler. 

 Bloomtield. N. .1. 



I do not want to lose any ntimbers. 

 You are doing some good work on it. 

 Your picture of the Red-shouldered 

 Hawk I thought fine. 



E. B. Trescot. 

 Julv S. 1912. 



