THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



nests about one hour and found quite a lot 

 of them empty. I was a little early in the 

 season to get a large variety of sets; how- 

 ever, I found five sets of one egg each, four 

 of two, and six of three eggs, the latter full 

 sets. I have taken about one hundred sets 

 of these eggs in Michigan and Indiana in 

 former seasons, and never found a larger 

 set than three eggs. Their nests are nearly 

 all very similar, small hummocks of dead 

 weeds harmonizing very much with the 

 eggs. Nests are very seldom more than an 

 inch above the water, and they are not at 

 all easy to find, especially to a beginner. 



I have a large series of three eggs in my 

 collection, and there is quite a variety in 

 coloring. Some have a rich reddish 

 ground color, others a yellowish, some 

 white or cream, but the majority a greenish 

 ground color. All are spotted and splashed 

 with black, and a little violet splash occa- 

 sionally. As I had never taken any eggs 

 of the Yellow-headed Blackbird, and in fact 

 had not previously seen the bird alive, I 

 now turned my attention to getting a series 

 of their eggs. I took four sets of four eggs. 

 three sets of three, one set of two, and one 

 of one. Their ground color is grayish- 

 white or green, spotted with drab, purplish- 

 brown and umber. Some of the sets had 

 rings of the above colors near the top of the 

 eggs. 



Coots were numerous, and I took as 

 many as I desired. I found a number of 

 eggs far advanced in incubation and was 

 surprised, as the Coot is a late breeder in 

 Michigan. As it was now nearly .six 

 o'clock I returned to the house to get a 

 little breakfast. I found several Bartram's 

 Sandpipers running along the ground but 

 did not locate any of their nests, although I 

 must have been very close to them ; also a 

 few Killdeers. Both these birds are very 

 wary and are seldom flushed off" their eggs. 

 After a hurried meal I blew my egj^s and 

 found all of them were fresh. I then de- 

 cided to cross the railway bridge and look 

 for Ducks' nestb in the long dry grass 



across the lake. The majority of Ducks 

 breed in the grass about one hundred yards 

 from water, although I have taken their 

 eggs several miles from any water. The 

 fir.«t find was a beautiful nest of theGadwall 

 placed in the long dry prairie grass about 

 two hundred feet from the lake. It con- 

 tained nine fresh eggs of a creamy color, 

 about 2. 20 X 1.30. The nest was in a 

 slight hollow, and was made of down mixed 

 with dry marsh flags. The bird flew off 

 the nest when I was about two feet off from 

 it. 



My next find was a nest of the Pintail 

 containing nine eggs — eight Pintail and 

 one Golden -eye. The nest was of down 

 and dry grass and was placed about one 

 hundred yards from the Gadwall's, in a 

 very similar position and looked very beau- 

 tiful . The eight eggs of the Pintail were of 

 a grayish olive color, almost oval shape; 

 the Golden-eye's egg was a bright ashy- 

 green color, and a little larger than the 

 other eggs. As the Golden-eye usually 

 breeds in a hollow tree, it is a question why 

 it laid a single egg in a Pintail's nest. 

 Have any of your readers ever heard of a 

 similar find? 



I found a number of empty Kingbirds' 

 nests and a number of Brozed Grackles all 

 placed in willow trees. These birds were 

 evidently just beginning housekeeping. I 

 found in the same willow trees several 

 empty nests of the Crow and one Hawks 

 nest with a fresh snake skin inside, evi- 

 dently a Swainson's. 



American Bitterns were quite plentiful, 

 but I did not find any of their nests. As it 

 was now past eleven o'clock and the day 

 was very hot, I retraced my steps to the 

 house. The mosquitoes had punished me 

 severely, and my face and neck was sore 

 from their bites and the stings of other in- 

 sects. 



In the afternoon I took one seven and 

 one eight of the Horned Grebe and one 

 seven of the American Eared Grebe. All 

 the eggs were covered with decayed weeds 



