THE OOLOGIST. 



69 



Sialia sialis (Linn.), Bluebird. Heard 

 their gentle warbling as I woke up the 

 morning of March 9th, they having evi- 

 dently arrived in the night. 



Chakges in the Habits of Birds. 



Habia ludoviciana (Linn.), Rose-breast- 

 ed Grosbeak. Once this bird preferred 

 the most secluded retreats in this local- 

 ity. Now it prefers to come near human 

 .habitations. In the summer of 1888 I 

 was called to identify a strange bird 

 that had built its nest in a shaded nook 

 of a vine covered doorway and found it 

 to be a pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks 

 that made their home there. They had 

 many a hard battle with numerous 

 European Sparrows, but always came 

 out victorious and succeeded in rearing 

 their young. 



A large portion of the ground in the 

 rear of the house was occupied by 

 potatoes. While watching these Gros- 

 beaks the first day I visited the place, I 

 .was much interested to see the male 

 Grosbeak pass down one side of a row 

 •of potatoes, stripping them of the Colo- 

 rado potato beetle {Doryphora 10-linea- 

 ■la.) Since then, I have often witnessed 

 this habit of these birds. 



The nest I referred to was in the 

 heart of this village, one block from 

 Main St. Have often observed them 

 iibout my own home since then. 



The Scarlet Tanager {Piranga ludovi- 

 ciana) vieiil was more numerous here 

 last year than formerly and ventured to 

 breed just outside of corporation limits 

 and seemed to have lost much of their 

 usual shyness. Their usual cry is very 

 peculiar and rather harsh, yet they sing 

 quite melodiously. It is a bird of 

 wonderful beauty. This bird was the 

 first bird noticed to eat the Colorado 

 potato beetle. It seems strange that 

 our two handsomest birds should 

 delight in such horrid moi'sels as the 

 larvae of these beetles, yet I have seen 

 the Rose-breasted Grosbeak devour 



them with as much relish as a Robin 

 does a cherry. 



That brilliant Gem, the Indigo Bird 

 (Passeri?ia cyanea, Linn.), which 

 usually frequents the densest thickets 

 and, like the Scarlet Tanager, has 

 hjtherto been exceedingly shy, has been 

 seen several times about my village 

 home. 



Family Eallidae in Minnesota. 



Four varieties of this interesting 

 family have fallen under my notice dur- 

 ing the breeding season. Namely: 

 Virginia, Rail, Sora, Florida Gallinule 

 and American Coot. These I believe ai"e 

 all of this family which breed here 

 regularly. 



The Virginia Rail frequents about the 

 same places as the Sora. Most of the 

 nests which I have taken were placed 

 in a meadow bordering a lake. 



The nests are composed of last year's 

 rushes lined with finer grasses etc. 

 They are quite solid structures, but are 

 generally soggy from absorbing the 

 water. 



The Rails bend the surrounding 

 grasses over the nest, forming a dome. 

 This is often the means of their expos- 

 ure. The eggs range from ten to eigh- 

 teen in number and are a rich buflf col- 

 or spotted with reddish brown. The 

 birds begin to incubate from the first 



egg- 



The Sora prefers to build in more wet 

 places than the Virginia. The nesting 

 habits otherwise are similar. 



They utter a pecular harsh cry dur- 

 ing the breeding season. I often won- 

 dered what made it until I found out 

 from a more experienced comrade. 



The eggs are difficult to describe. 

 They are a grayish-brown spotted with 

 dark reddish-brown. They are from 

 eight to sixteen in number. 



I have only found one nest of the 

 Florida Gallinule. I was collecting 

 Tellow-headed Blackbirds' eggs in a 



