THE OOLOGIST 145 
nest—a complete set, as indicated by 
their similarity in shape and _ size. 
They are also typical in coloration, 
but smaller than normal eggs of 
Agelaius phoeniceus, being about the 
size of those of the Florida Redwing. 
Never before or since have I found 
nests of this species containing over 
four eggs, and know of but one set of 
five being taken here, and this set was 
collected by my friend Richard C. 
Harlow, but I have read of sets being 
collected consisting of five eggs— 
never any of six. 
Most books say the Red-winged 
Blackbird lays from three to five eggs, 
but we oologists all know that the 
usual complement is generally three 
or four eggs, rarely five, as given by 
Davies. Warren, in his “Birds of 
Pennsylvania’, 2nd edition, says the 
eggs are from four to six in number, 
but he is the only ornithologist whom 
I can recollect of as crediting this 
bird with laying the latter number of 
‘eggs. 
There are, however, I believe, several 
records of five eggs mentioned in 
articles contained in the volumes of 
our beloved OOLOGIST, but I do not 
remember having ever read of a set 
of six in any of them. 
Let us hear from others in regard to 
big sets of the Red-winged Blackbird 
or any other species for that matter. 
In a future paper I shall tell you 
about my experience with big sets of 
our plebian Blackheaded Thrush—I 
mean Robin. 
R. F, Miller. 
—_———+<o—___—_- 
Dr. Guy C. Rich, of Sioux City, one 
of Iowa’s well known ornithologists 
has recently returned from a trip to 
the Pacific Coast on which he reports 
much interesting bird observation, in- 
cluding a visit with our old friend, 
Professor Grinnell, at Berkeley, Cali- 
fornia. 
An Artist. 
We have just received a copy of the 
exceedingly rare ‘“Cooper’s Birds of 
California’ with the heads of all 
species illustrated there in by our old 
friend, W. Otto Emerson, done in 
water colors. The character of this 
work truly stamps Professor Emerson 
as an artist of the first class in our 
estimation, 
Editor. 
—————o-—e—___"_—_- 
White Blackbird. 
While out hunting Sunday, John 
Dorstler and William Dixon secured a 
white blackbird which was in a flock 
of blackbirds and is exactly like the 
darker hued ones with the exception 
of colors. The only spot except white 
on the bird is yellow, under the throat, 
similar to the colors of the canary. 
The bird was brought to Sterling and 
was shown to many people.—sSterling 
Standard. 
———xcrcrKrorp oe — 
The Northern Shrike. 
At Bloomfield, N, J., on February 7, 
1906, I found the only Northern 
Shrike I have record of in this section. 
The bird was perched in a decayed 
beech tree near the roadside and was 
apparently on the lookout for some 
smaller bird to pass and give it an 
opportunity to pounce upon it as I 
found the carcasses of two freshly 
killed English sparrows impaled upon 
the thorns of a neighboring Honey 
Locust as evidences of its previous 
depredations. The bird remained on 
this perch for about ten minutes and 
afforded me quite suffcient time to 
get its markings and habits while 
perching firmly fixed in mind. The 
bird then flew off in a southerly direc- 
tion and was not again seen. 
L. S. Kohler. 
