THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



167 



[Continued from page 165.] 



In several instances last summer, the fe- 

 male was sitting on two of her eggs and 

 two, and in one case even three of the Cow- 

 bird's. Unfortunately for the collector, Cow- 

 bird eggs are quite frequently found in the 

 nests of this bird, which almost invariably 

 makes the set smaller and in some instances 

 dents one of the Warbler's eggs with its feet. 



The nests are nearly always placed along- 

 side of a path leading through the woods, 

 or near the edge of them, and are always 

 placed at the foot of a small shrub between 

 the forks and sometimes in a bunch of 

 weeds. On rare occasions only have I 

 found the nest on the hillside, or in a swamp. 

 One great assistance to the collector in find- 

 ieg the nest of this bird, is the fact that 

 when you go near it the birds will nearly 

 always betray its presence in the immediate 

 vicinity by their anxiety to lead you away 

 from the spot. On the other hand, should 

 you find a nest with an incomplete set of 

 eggs, or a nest just completed, and should 

 you leave many signs of your having ex- 

 amined it, the chances are that when you 

 next pay it a visit hoping you will secure a 

 fine set of eggs, you will be woefully disap- 

 pointed by finding it deserted. In this case 

 look in the immediate vicinity some ten 

 days afterward and you will probably find 

 a new nest. After a set of eggs has been 

 taken the birds lose very little time in la- 

 menting their loss, but almost immediately 

 start to work to build another nest, usually 

 within a short distance of the former one, 

 and about twelve days afterward have a 

 second clutch of eggs laid. 



The time to look far their eggs may be 

 said to be from the 25th of May to the loth 

 of June. I have found fresh eggs (first 

 laying) as late as June 25 and have on 

 the other hand found a set which must have 

 been laid as early as May 20, but these, 

 of course, are extremes. 



The eggs vary greatly in size, shape, 

 markings, etc., and for an extended de- 

 scription of a series of them I would refer 

 the reader to the Ornithologist and Oologist 



for January, 1892. In conclusion, I would 

 state that this article covers an experience 

 of five years, during which time I have 

 found over a hundred nests of this bird. 

 J. P. NoRRis, Jr. 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



-♦-•-♦- 



Queer Nidification of the Sooty 

 Grouse. 



IT is with considerable hesitancy that I 

 send this note for publication, because 

 it is a rule, I believe, that when any- 

 one presents anything extraordinary some 

 prominent ornithologist writes a column or 

 more about "amateurs," '• mistaken ident- 

 ity," and the like. But I hope to make 

 this note an exception to the rule. 



On July 8, 1893, when strolling among 

 the thick fir timber, I saw a nest at a 

 height of forty -five feet or more in a small 

 fir tree, looking as though it had been used 

 by a Crow or a Hawk in some by-gone day. 

 Upon climbing up and investigating, I 

 found it to be a mass of sticks about two 

 feet across, and a little one side of the cen- 

 ter was a hollow about five inches across 

 by two and one-half inches deep, lined with 

 a few Sooty Grouse feathers. The hollow 

 exactly resembled the hollows that the 

 Sooty Grouse makes on the ground for 

 nests. 



In this hollow, and at the bottom of the 

 tree, were a number of broken egg-shells 

 of the Sooty Grouse. Upon closely exam- 

 ining the shell I found that there had been 

 eight or nine eggs, and they showed unmis- 

 takably that they had been hatched. 



Whether or not a Sooty Grouse laid and 

 hatched her eggs in this nest cannot be 

 ascertained definitely, but all indications 

 certainly point in that direction. 



McMinnville, Oregon. 



Arthur L. Pope. 



I hope the Nidiologist gets the support it 

 deserves. I am charmed with every number; read 

 and re-read every article 'till I feel like I were in 

 "the field" myself. My hearty good wishes for 

 its success. — Stephen Rozzcki, Bureau of Steam 

 Engineering, Navy Dep't, Washington, D. C. 



