D6 THE OOLOGIST o27ic/, 
rough look on the outside but very 
compact inside. It is lined with pine 
needles and dead moss, which close- 
ly resembles horse hair, and if luck 
is on your side you will see eggs rest- 
ing in the nest, which will repay you 
for the hard time you have had wad- 
ing through the water and fighting 
the mosquitces that always infest the 
swamp. During the twenty years I 
have been ccllecting eggs of this spe- 
cie and several other sets collected by 
the late Geo. Noble and Dr. Chas. Du 
‘Pont, making a total of 54 sets, only 
four had 4 eggs, so that 3 seems to be 
the usual number, and at times only 
two with incubation far advanced. I 
have never seen but one spotted set 
and that is now in my collection, pre- 
sented to me by the late Dr. Du Pont. 
The spots are rather faint reddish 
in color and chiefly on the large ends. 
‘Thus leaving little doubt in my mind 
that white eggs are the true color. 
The female is a very close sitter, al- 
lowing you to almost take her from 
the nest, and at last when driven off 
it is with difficulty that you can shoot 
them, as they keep so close to the un- 
der-growth, and all the time in great 
distress, beating the ground with its 
wings and trying all the while to lead 
you away. Now, if you want to se- 
cure the bird for a specimen, it is 
right here that patience becomes a 
virtue, for it will be some time be- 
fore you will see her lady-ship again, 
and then the only warning you will 
have is a slight chirp, repeated at 
intervals, and by close watching you 
will see her creeping back on the 
ground until directly under the nest 
before she flies to it. I remember on 
one occasion while standing in water 
knee deep to see a Swainson fly to a 
certain bush several times and becom- 
ing so interested in its movements 
that I soon forgot my surroundings 
but I was soon brought to my senses 
A\O 
ON 
by hearing a swish and looking down 
I. saw a water moccasin. He missed 
me, but I was more fortunate as my 
collecting gun soon had him where 
he was out of the way or doing harm. 
As I had remarked the bush where 
I had seen the Swainson going I went 
over expecting to find a nest being 
constructed, but instead I found a fe- 
male sitting on three incubated eggs 
and the made had been feeding her. 
They are very sociable, as you will 
find several pair breeding together 
(and here let me say nine times out 
of ten that by close hunting you will 
find the nest of the Hooded Warbler 
as they are always near by) in quite 
a small space. They do not always 
breed in Swamps or over running wat- 
er, aS some writers claim, as I have 
found them in Myrtle bushes fully a 
mile from any water. They seem to 
prefer canes to any other place, but 
you will find them in Gall bushes, 
Vines and Palmettos. The photo of 
the nest and eggs that accompany this 
article was taken this season (by W. 
J. Hoxie) it only contained two eggs, 
so far incubated that I left them, 
thinking I would go back and get a 
chance to photograph the young, but 
work prevented. It seems they get 
scarcer every year, as I only took two 
sets last season and one this, although 
conditions are still the same as in the 
years that have passed. They will of- 
ten build a nest and then desert it as 
last season I saw several that were 
ready for eggs, but when I revisited 
the nest I found them in the same con- 
dition, still empty. Why they do this 
I am unable to say. They commence 
to build the latter part of April, as 
I have taken eggs by the 7th of May 
and as late as July 13th. So I think 
they must rear two broods during the 
season, 
joe RD SA A aera 
Huropean Birds in June Oologist. 
