THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



73 



from this nest, including two sets of four, 

 and on May 24, 1891, 1 took a beautiful set 

 of five Tree Swallow's eggs out of an old 

 Woodpecker's hole, about ten feet up, be- 

 sides three eggs of the Osprey. 



My cabinet shows a series of seventy se- 

 lected sets, there being eleven sets of four, 

 fifty-five of three, and four sets of two. 

 They show a remarkable variation in color 

 and markings, the predominating type 

 being dark, heavily-marked specimens of 

 brown and deep red. Eggs with a pure 

 white ground color are very rare, and for 

 the other extreme I have a set of two so 

 heavily colored with dark chocolate that 

 they are indistinguishable from Caracara's 

 eggs. The largest specimen I have meas- 

 ures 2.79x1.88, the smallest 2.12x1.65. 



Providence^ R. I. 



THE YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. 



The Yellow -breasted Chat {Icteria virens) 

 is a handsome bird, about 8 inches long, of 

 a deep olive-green above, while the tips of 

 wing and tail, also the under parts of the 

 same, are dusky gray. The front is of a 

 dark slate color; eyebrow and lid white. 

 The whole throat and breast is a brilliant 

 yellow, extending back along the sides and 

 under parts, growing paler and finally 

 merging into white on the belly and under 

 tail coverts. 



I can discern very little if any difference 

 in the markings of the sexes. 



In the spring, before mating, it is the 

 most active. At that time, go to some 

 quiet piece of woodland, preferably a hill- 

 side covered with bushes, with here and 

 there a tree, and you will hear it, and to 

 hear it once is to always remember it. 



Here it will pour forth such a variety of 

 noises, from the low sweet musical notes to 

 the loud rattling song of the Brown Thrash- 

 er, perhaps ending in a series of low gut- 

 tural chucks resembling the notes of a Black- 

 bird; pouring these forth with great rap- 

 idity, and in such a variety of tones and 



modulations, all the time keeping on the 

 move from bush to bush, always out of 

 sight, giving the listener the idea there is 

 a dozen birds instead of one. 



Again it will start from the top of some 

 tree and with dangling legs and fluttering 

 wings, looking for all the world as if 

 wounded, it will gradually near the ground 

 and disappear in the bush. All through its 

 strange evolutions it keeps pouring forth 

 its mocking songs and rattling notes as if 

 its throat would burst. 



It arrives in the fore part of May, and 

 the nests and ^ggs may be found the last 

 half of that month and in the fore part of 

 June. 



The nest in this locality is placed in a 

 thorn bush on a side hill, from one to four 

 feet above the -ground. 



It is very rarely that a person can ap- 

 proach quietly enough to find the bird on. 

 It will usually disappear in the surrounding 

 thicket and not show itself again while the 

 intruder is near. 



The nest is composed of dry grasses, 

 dead leaves, strips of bark, etc., lined with 

 fine dry grass. The eggs are glossy white, 

 marked with specks and spots of reddish 

 brown, scattered evenly over the shell in 

 some cases, while in others forming a 

 wreath around the larger end. Withal they 

 are handsome eggs, three or four in num- 

 ber, measuring from .80 in. to r.oo in. in 

 length by .62 to .75 in. in width. Two sets 

 of four each and one of three eggs in my 

 collection average .95 in. x .72 in. 



R. M. Frisbey. 

 Chicago, III. 



►-•-. 



A lively election recently took place in the San 

 Francisco Academy of Scieoces, made so by an op- 

 position ticket, aimed to defeat the election of 

 President Harkness and others. Walter Bryant 

 was nominated for Director of the Museum ?, but 

 was defeated by a small majority. Dr. Harkness 

 was re-elected, and now the position of Mr. Bry- 

 ant as Curator of Ornithology and that of Mr. 

 Brandeger as Curator of Botany have been declared 

 vacant. Incidentally, it is said the publication of 

 Zoe, which has been supported financially by Mr. 

 Brandeger, will for a time suspend. 



