THE NIDIOLOGlSt. 



Home Life of the Mountain Blue- 

 Bird. 



ALL observers whose accounts of the 

 nesting of the Mountain Bhiebird 

 {Sialia arctica) I have read, agree 

 that sets of six eggs of this species are good 

 large sets, and that sets of seven are quite 

 unusual. But last spring I took from a 

 box on m}' house a set of seven eggs, and 

 three weeks later I obtained a second set of 

 seven from the same box. 



I had prepared and placed on the front of 

 ray house a bird box of an elaborate design, 

 with covered piazza and bay window, all 

 painted in bright and variegated colors, but 

 the l)irds preferred an old box such as a 

 six-year-old boy might tack together, which 

 I afterwards placed at the back of the 

 house. This box was taken possession of 

 on April 12 and immediately filled to the 

 top with coarse gra.sses and weed fibres, a 

 hollow for the eggs being shaped out in the 

 most remote corner from the entrance, and 

 at the top of the heap. After this "pre- 

 liminary filing" of their claim the birds did 

 not stay very closely at home for several 

 weeks, or until about the first of May. And 

 I did not think then that any eggs would be 

 found in the box for another three weeks, 

 but to be on the safe side I went up on May 

 3, and was surprised to find five eggs. On 

 the forenoon of May 5 I again went up and 

 found six eggs, and that same evening when 

 I went up to get them I found seven. This 

 particular Bluebird, therefore, deposited 

 her eggs in the afternoon, as the sixth egg 

 was placed in the afternoon of the 4th and 

 the seventh in the afternoon of the 5th. 



(In this connection I might mention a 

 pair of House Finches on which I "held 

 cases" in a similar manner, and determined 

 the time of the laying of their eggs to be 

 about five o'clock in the morning.) 



After all this familiarity on ray part the 

 Bluebirds left, but in less than two weeks 

 another pair had taken possession and paid 

 me as rent on their cottage the second "set 



of seven" which I refer to. They might 

 have been the same pair for all I can say to 

 the contrary, but not having any "strings 

 on their bows," I cannot say with certain- 

 ty that they were. I can only say that the 

 nest material was not objected to or changed 

 in any way by the second pair of tenants, 

 and had it not been a nest of their own 

 make they might, at least, have pulled out 

 and replaced with new a part of the con- 

 tents of the box. 



Fred. M. Dille. 



Denver, CoL 



Bird-Nesting in North-West 

 Canada. 



BY WALTER RAINE. 

 [ Concluded. ] 



JUNE 23. — We again visited the island 

 and photographed the Gadwalls' nest 

 and then had a swim, which was s^xy 

 enjoj'able, as it was a blazing hot day and 

 over 90 in the shade. 



After a hearty dinner off a large pike we 

 visited Bittern Creek, named by us on ac- 

 count of the numerous Bitterns observed 

 there; on one occasion five rose together. 

 The creek swarms with fish, and this no 

 doubt attracts the Bitterns from the sur- 

 rounding marshes, and thej' come here to 

 feed. Dippie shot a Bittern, Marsh Hawk 

 and some other birds, and we collected eggS 

 of several marsh-nesting birds. At night a 

 tremendous wind storm blew from the land 

 towards the lake and we were afraid our 

 tent would be carried into the water, but it 

 stood the tempest well, and next morning 

 we were surprised to find the wind had 

 caused the water to recede, leaving a sandy 

 beach between ourselves and the water, but 

 later on in the da)^ when the wind abated 

 the water came back again and the beach 

 disappeared . 



Some half-breed fishermen living near the 

 lake drove up to our camp, and as they were 

 going around the eastern shore of the lake 

 we decided to go along with them for a few 



