THE NIDIOLOGIST 



but was as large and as deep as a nest of the 

 Lazuli Banting. The eggs, four in nuuiber, 

 were fresh, and in color were pure white, un- 

 spotted. The nest was taken June 21 or 22. 



The Annex meets at the residence of W. B. 

 Judson at Highland Park, September 30. 



Nesting Habits of the Downy 

 Woodpecker. 



THE Downy ^\"oodpecker,or "Sajjsucker," 

 as it is called here, is the commonest of 

 our breeding Picida. The Howny is 

 not as sociable in his breeding habits as the 

 Flicker and Red-head, but after and before the 

 breeding season he is found commonly about 

 the city yards industriously hunting for insects 

 on the oak trees, often in company with the 

 White-breasted Nuthatch and Brown Creeper. 



Early in tlie spring the " Downies " retire to 

 the woods to breed, and prefer (here at least) 

 the vicinity of running water. The nest is be- 

 gun about the second or third week in May, 

 and consumesfrom two days to a week in build- 

 ing. The earliest date of taking a fresh set is 

 May 14, and the latest June 7. This spring 

 the birds were very uniform in building and 

 laying, and nearly all had complete sets by 

 May 20. The holes are usually excavated in 

 dead willow, poplar, or oak trees, and the height 

 varies from four to thirty feet, usually about 

 fifteen feet. The entrance to the nest is 

 about two inches in diameter, and the depth of 

 the nest hole varies from eight to eighteen 

 inches, usually about nine or ten. The eggs 

 are almost invariably five in number, rarely six, 

 and occasionally four. They vary considerably 

 in size and shape. Measurements of the small- 

 est and largest sets in my collection follow : 

 Smallest, .72X.60, .75X.62, .75X.62, .75X.64, 

 .75X.6S; largest, .81X.60, .85X.60, .85X.60, 

 .S5X.62. The average of thirty-four eggs is 

 .78X.60. Before blowing the eggs are a beautiful 

 fosy tint, but this bloom fades to a dull white. 



St. Paul, Minn. AValton Mitchell. 



\Vk expect to have an article in the N'ovember 

 number, written for the Nidiologist by Major 

 Charles E. Bendire, Honorary Curator of the Depart- 

 ment of Oology in the I'nited Slates National Mu- 

 seum. 



A NEW and attractive cover is contemplated for the 

 NlinOLOGiST in the near future. 



/d-.^fu^i^edA*jJxA 



The Nidiologist came yesterday, and, as usual, I 

 did not know what was occurring around me fur the 

 next hour. 1. H. Bowles. 



PONK.VPOG, M.\ss. 



THE Curlew's nest was a slight structure of 

 dr)' buffalo grass, built in a hollow in the 

 sand at the roots of a clumjj of grass, and 

 so placed that the bird on the nest had an un- 

 obstructed view in every direction for over a 

 hundred yards. 



After leaving the Curlew's nest I secured a 

 fine set of four slightly incubated eggs of West- 

 ern Meadowlark, probably a second set for this 

 season, as this bird breeds in latter April in the 

 eastern part of Nebraska. I also found a nest 

 of Western Nighthawk containing two nearly 

 half-grown young. There was no pretense of 

 a nest, but merely a hollow in the sand on the 

 side of a hill. 



June 24, while wading in a lake in Pine 

 Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, I flushed a 

 Sandhill Crane from a small clump of tules 

 where the water was about ten inches deep. 

 Upon going to the spot I found her nest and 

 the young Cranes, about four to six days old. 

 The young birds were about the size of a full- 

 grown Meadowlark, and were partly covered 

 with soft, yellow down, and when I picked up 

 one to examine it, it uttered a sqnak (or rather 

 swak) that started the old birds, of which there 

 were three, to calling in a low guttural tone, and 

 the female flew around me in a very threatening 

 manner. 



The nest was a large, flat platform built up 

 from the bottom of the lake, which was at that 

 point (near the edge) ten inches deep. It was 

 composed of dry tule stalks. The top was 

 twelve inches above the level of the water and 

 ten by sixteen inches in size, very slightly hol- 

 lowed. This nest was very similar in construc- 

 tion to a nest of American Bittern, from which 

 I had secured a set of four slightly incubated 

 eggs the day before, but was of course much 

 larger. A peculiar thing about these Cranes is 

 that for the past four years there has always 

 been but three birds seen near and around this 

 lake. 



June 28 I secured two fine sets of Canvas- 

 back Duck, one of eight eggs, and one of seven, 

 and one egg of Mallard. The nests were built 

 very similar to nests of American Coot, but a 

 little more compact and larger, and were placed 

 where water was ten to twenty inches deep in 

 clump of tules or sedges. Yellow-headed Black- 

 birds were numerous and breeding. 



Indians (Brule Sioux) were numerous, riding 

 to and from Cody and the Pine Ridge and 

 Rosebud Agencies. I found that I was a great 

 curiosity to them. They would point at me 



