^4 



THE OOLOGIST. 



were sterile, the others badly incubated. 

 The nest was a small irregular plat- 

 form of broad grass blades, placed close 

 to the water in a large coarse bunch of 

 grass. The river was a few I'ods dis- 

 tant. 



Just above here the river makes a 

 wide curve and passes for a half mile 

 along the railroad bank. As we round- 

 ed the curve a Least Bittern rose silent- 

 ly from a patch of rushes and a female 

 followed. Investigation showed a nest 

 about ready for eggs, constructed of 

 fresh blades of the rushes woven to- 

 gether. The nest was subsequently 

 •deserted as was proved a week later. I 

 wished to secure a few pitcher plants 

 which bloomed on the opposite side so 

 we landed and were soon waist deep in 

 the delightful warm mud and wrater of 

 the right swamp. Here tufts of swamp 

 azalia in bloom were making the air 

 still sweeter. Bees were humming in 

 abundance about the crimson petals of 

 the pitcher blossoms. I was crossing a 

 ditch when a Sora took flight from the 

 sparse grass not ten feet away. Nest- 

 ling down in a scant bunch of pale 

 .green grass was a well shaped nest 

 literally full of eggs. There were four- 

 teen, the eggs being piled one upon the 

 ■other. Their condition varied from 

 fresh to quite badly incubated, and 

 -mixed in at the very bottom were some 

 of the most recent laid eggs with well 

 incubated ones beside them. After the 

 first splashing as the bird left I saw her 

 no more. 



I was returning to the boat with my 

 arms full of plants. My friend was just 

 behind. In front a small circle of six 

 cedar trees not three feet tall grew. 

 Just as I was passing this a (i^ii ui splash 

 was heard and a mallard <i*ick {Anas 

 ■boschas) darted off like a rocket. Now 

 in this vicinity the mallard is rare even 

 in imagination, so j lost no time in ex- 

 amining those cedars. The sight was 

 well worth any amount of trouble in 

 getting there. Nine eggs were grouped 



in a nest sunk between the stems of 

 the cedars. The nest was a well shaped 

 mass of damp and decaying weeds, 

 marsh grass and a very little green 

 cedar. A few breast feathers flecked 

 the rim. The eggs were very badly in- 

 cubated, almost on the verge of hatch- 

 ing and were preserved only by using 

 repeated injections of 20 per cent, solu- 

 tion of caustic potash. The tough 

 membranes prevented serious injury to 

 the shell. 



The eggs were discolored to dark 

 dirty green which was well worked into 

 the shell and the nest smelt rankly. 

 The bowl of tho nest was four inches 

 above water and an equal number of 

 inches in depth. The outside diameter 

 measured 20i inches and the Inside 10. 

 Before taking the set we retired for at 

 least half an hour. By that time the 

 eggs had cooled and the bird was still 

 away. When visited a week later the 

 empty nest was as we left it. Owing 

 to its loose composition and disagree- 

 able odor I could not collect it. The 

 average egg of this set measures 2.26x 

 1.70 inches, and when cleaned is of a 

 clear brownish color. I have but twice 

 before recorded a mallard in my dis- 

 trict, the last time being in March 1898, 

 when a pair male and female, were 

 seen in a marsh four miles from this 

 one. 



Frank J. Birtwell, 

 Dorchester, Mass. 



The Effect of Storms on Birds. 



I will give some incidents that have 

 come under my notice in the last few 

 years, along the line of which I am try- 

 ing to describe. In the very cold win- 

 ters of '93 and '94 many birds perished 

 of hunger and cold. It was no more 

 than usual to find dead birds lying 

 around on the ground. Among those 

 who suffered most were the Bluebird 

 and the Mourning Dove. 



This change was noticed by all. not 



