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Bird- Lore 



Scoty nest is an affair consuming very little time, even when an 'elaborate'' 

 nest is constructed, — a little 'back shoveling' with the vvebbed foot, a Httle 

 'breasting': — a term I have chosen to designate the operation of sitting flat in 

 the nest and turning round and round and using the breast as a ' shaper ' — and 

 the deed is done. 



On May 5, two Noddy eggs were found. On May 7, several Sooty eggs 

 were laid. From this time on, the eggs were rapidly laid by both species. Three 

 weeks from these dates, most of the eggs had been laid. On June 3, the first 



SOOTY TERNS NEST ON THE GROUND, NODDY TERNS NEST IN THE TREES, 

 DRY TORTUGAS, FLORIDA 



Sooty young was found. Marked eggs showed the incubation period to be slightly 

 variable but averaging about twenty-nine days. On June 9, the first of the Noddy 

 young appeared. Marked eggs showed the incubation to be very variable, from 

 thirty-three to thirty-eight days. 



In most cases, only one egg was laid. This is strictly true for the Noddy. 

 I have never seen two eggs in a Noddy nest except in cases where the first egg 

 had been displaced, and hence no longer gave the proper contact sensation?. 

 I counted in the neighborhood of fifty Sooty nests where two eggs were present. 

 In one case, I actually saw the parent bird with two young, and, in another 

 case, one young bird and one unhatched egg. Since no unhatched eggs were 



