36 



THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



Yellow Headed Blackbird. 



Inquiries and Answers. 



The Yellow-lieaded Blackblid, Xanthoc- 

 epJilus i(.Uroct"phalu&, is medium between 

 the Crow Blackbird and the Red-aud-bviif 

 shouldered Blackbird, and as his name in- 

 dicates has a zone of j^ellow over the en- 

 tire head and extending down on to the 

 shoulders with a few traces of the same be- 

 low; the remainder black- The female is 

 a dull brown with traces of the yellow of 

 of the male. The Yellowhead is eminent- 

 1}' a marsh bird and may be found most 

 abundant in the lake regions of Northern 

 Iowa and Southern Minnesota, where it 

 breeds in the wild rice .swamps, placing 

 the carefully woven nest of grasses in a 

 cluster of last years' stalks; usually in a 

 part inaccessible except by boat. I have 

 counted over 500 nests in a tract of one- 

 eighth of an acre, the eggs all in the same 

 state of incubation. When any one nears 

 the nest, the owners set up a series of 

 hoarse croakings by M^hich others are at- 

 tracted, when a perfect din of grating, 

 cries and "squawks " begins. The grassy 

 materials of the west are nicely interwoven 

 among the stalks so firmly that the struct- 

 ure can be removed only by cutting away 

 the stalks with the nest; some attain a 

 height of twelve to fifteen inches, usually 

 about four inches. 



The egg is dark-speckled and much re- 

 sembles the egg of the Brown Thrush, 

 four to five in a set. The only bad trait 

 attributed to the Yellow-head is his habit- 

 ual merry-making with his neighbors' 

 corn-fields, where he frequently ruins an 

 entire crop, not only picking off the young 

 plant, but literally digging up the seed. 



During the migration the Yellow-head 

 is more seldom seen than other species; his 

 flight is mostly by night, while he remains 

 in swamps and marshes by day. 



Notwithstanding his ugly habit of pelf 1 

 like the Yellow-head, for there is sure to 

 be lively racket if not melody, where he 

 casts his lot. 



J. W. Preston. 



Baxter, la. 



I CHEWINK, ROUGH-WINOKD SW.\J.1.0W. 



! FiiOM G. S. p., Princeton, K J.— In 

 j your paper E. S. B. says he "found three 

 Chewink's nests last summer in bushes." 

 1 I found a nest May 2nd, 1884, on the 

 ; ground containing two eggs, incubation 

 far advanced. Do they not usually lay 

 , four V A friend of mine, here, fcjund a 

 I nest of the Rough- winged Swallow, which 

 j contained seven eggs. Is not that an un- 

 i usuallj'^ large clutch ? 



The Chewink usually lays four m- five 

 . eggs. The set of swallows is large, and 

 from the few sets of the Rough-winged 

 which M'e have had, would sav " unusual- 

 ly." 



RESTORING AN EGG'S TRANPARENCY. 



From A. T. H., Boston, Mass.— Rev. 

 J. G. Wood, the naturalist, recommends 

 that those eggs which lose their pink trans- 

 parency after being blown, to restore it by 

 means of colored wax. Is that the way 

 you do ? 



We have never tried it. Who has, and 

 with what success ? 



FINDING EGGS ON THE GROUND. 



From T. F. H., Galt, Ont.— Last year 

 a friend of mine found a perfectly fresh 

 Q,gg of a Wood Pewee lying among a num- 

 ber of rocks on the bank of the river, and 

 I myself found several eggs of the English 

 Sparrow lying on a gravel path. Could 

 you let me know if all birds laj^ their eggs 

 on the ground at times ? 



All birds are apt to deposit their eggs on 

 the ground if their nest is destroyed before 

 they have laid their usual complement. 



ctrcKOOs, &c. 



From V. C. W., Granville, O. — I have 

 a pet hawk which eats bread and milk. 

 Will you please tell the difference between 

 the Yellow-billed and the Black-billed Cuc- 

 koos '? Also, difference between their eggs? 



The most noticable difference between 

 the two Cuckoos mentioned is the yellow 

 under mandible, and black in the tail feath- 

 ers of the yellow-billed. The eggs of the 

 yellow-billed are of a light greenish blue ; 

 average dimensions, .90 in. by 1.30 in. The 

 eggs of the black-billed are of a darker 

 greenish-blue, and smaller in size ; dimen- 

 sions .70 in. by .98 in., to .85 in. by l.lOin. 

 Measurements of the eggs of both species 

 were taken from eggs in our collection. 



