206 



THE OOLOGISl\ 



gards their nidification, I will say that 

 it is my opinion that the bird rarely, 

 sets on the eggs during the day, but 

 leaves them to be hatched by the heat 

 generated by decay of nest, decomposi- 

 tion assisted by nature's great incubator, 

 the sun. Why the Grebe covers her 

 eggs, if it is not for the purpose of 

 fostering the heat generated, I do not 

 know. They have no natural enemies, 

 in this locality at least, to guard against, 

 which the covering would prove a pan- 

 oply of defence. I suppose opinions 

 vary as to the cause, but we can see the 

 effect in the finding of the eggs in one 

 nest, all the way from fresh to badly 

 incubated. Bnt be it as it may, this 

 trait of the Grebe shows one of the all- 

 wise and wonderful provisions of nature 

 through what we are pleased to call the 

 instinct of a bird. 



The eggs in size are very variable. 

 A few that are in my cabinet pre- 

 sent the following measurements: 1.62 

 xl.16, 1:75 X 1.16, 1.87x1.12, 1.81 X 

 1.19, 1.75 X 1.19, 1.73 X 1.19, 1.62 x 1.12, 

 1.56 X 1.09, 1.75 X 1.19, 1.97 xl.09. The 

 last is out of common proportions, yet 

 not rarely found. L. Dart. 



Birds' Nests. 



Collectors of birds' eggs are apt to re- 

 gard the nest as a secondary considera- 

 tion, yet there is as much to be learned 

 from it as from the eggs themselves. 

 There is an idividuality about it wliieh 

 the eggs do not possess. 



The Orioles are among the best of 

 nest-builders. The deftly woven nests 

 of the Baltimore Oriole are all made af- 

 ter the same general pattern and yet no 

 two are exactly alike. In placing the 

 nest the bird shows great cunning, also, 

 and the question is not how to find the 

 nest, but how to get it after it is found. 

 The nest of the Orchard Oriole is inter- 

 esting because of the materials used in 

 construction; grasses are common 

 enough in birds' nests, but this Oriole 



is one of the few birds, who prefer 

 green grass. 



Another family of pensile nest build- 

 ers, are the Vireos.c We can generally 

 find their pretty cup-shaped nests 

 in the deep woods where thej' are 

 swung from the forks of some low 

 shrub, sometimes as low as two fee t 

 from the ground. Tlie Cow-bird, too, 

 manages to find them out however 

 cunningly they be concealed. 



Several species of Fly-catchers are 

 famous for ornamenting their nests in 

 an exquisite manner. The common 

 Pewee usually covers the outside of its 

 nest with green moss, and the Wood 

 Pewee uses gray lichens for the same 

 purpose. Another, the Great Crested 

 Fly-catcher, has a fancy for cast-off 

 snake skins and is seldom Avithout one 

 or more. 



The Cat-bird's nest is an unique affair 

 usually found in thorn-bushes; the out- 

 side is built of course twigs and the in- 

 side of fine rootlets — anyone can identi- 

 fy it even in mid-winter. 



Indeed, winter is a very good time to 

 go a nesting; then one has no trouble 

 to find them. The Goldfinchs' nest is 

 one of the most common fgund on such 

 snowy excursions; the bird is a good 

 architect and builds a nest that will of- 

 ten out-last several winters. 



The most of our resident sparrows 

 nest on the ground; a few nest in trees; 

 the Song Sparrow seems undecided 

 which to do so nests in both places; in 

 the case of such birds as breed, somt- 

 times in trees and S(mietimes on the 

 ground, it is nearly always the early 

 broods that are found on. the ground; 

 as the season advances, more and more 

 nests are found in trees. Some one 

 has suggested that the reason the birds 

 take to the trees, is that they want to 

 avoid the disturbance of their nests by 

 the farmer in cultivatihg the land; but 

 perhaps a better reason for the early 

 broods being found on the ground, lies 

 in the fact that the l)nshes which Avould 



