16 THE O. & O. SEMI-ANNUAL. 
They arrive from the south early in May, and by the 4th of 
June (last year) I found a set of five eggs, which appears to be 
about the full complement, as they were slightly incubated. I 
took two sets of four the day previous; all placed in hollow pine 
trees and deposited on a few chips. The entrance hole was very 
small and eggs placed about a foot from aperture, and in one in- 
stance at the extreme top of a tree, fully 70 feet high. All these 
sets I took at about 800 ft. elevation. On the two following days 
I took three more unfinished sets at a higher elevation, 1-3 and 2-2, 
proving that the higher altitude and consequently colder atmo- 
sphere checks them somewhat. The eggs are pure white, of un- 
iform shape and average 15-16x1r1-16. 
Being badly in need of skins of that species, I collected most of 
of the old birds ; among them was one female that the red throat- 
mark very plainly (I never observed any trace of it before.) Her 
mate was the most beautiful specimen I ever saw, and that same 
pair occupied the high tree. Perhaps vanity led them to select 
such an exalted position. 
None of those I took were less than 15 feet high, but I once 
found a nest of young only a few feet from the ground, so that 
high nesting is not entirely a rule with them. 
