^o 



THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



Correspondence. 



BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE. 



J. R. M., Wallingford, Conn., says: 

 "I notice your list of sets of eggs you 

 quote Chickadees as laying 7-8. I have 

 found two nests this year, the first con- 

 taining 8, and the second 9. The latter 

 was the most elegant nest I have ever 

 seen; it was made in a large chestnut 

 stump about six feet high." 



BLUE- JAY AND BKOWN THRUSH. 



We have received the following in an. 

 swer to the inquiry of R. , in the July is- 

 sue. 



C. H. A., Taunton, Mass., says : I 

 should say that five was quite an unusual 

 set for the Brown Thrush. I have found 

 a great number of these nests, and never 

 but twice have I found a nest containing 

 five eggs. These were all distinguished 

 for the few spots and light color. The 

 spots formed^a ring around the crown and 

 were almost black in shade. 



J. S. B. , Quincy, Bl. , writes : Please let 

 R. , of Norwich, Conn. , know that his sets 

 of Blue Jay and Brown Thrush are not 

 unusually large. 



W. H., Shelbyville, Tenn., mentions 

 that he has found five and six Blue-jay 

 eggs several times, and twice the nests of 

 the Brown Thrush, each containing five 



Z. P. S., Warrington, Fla., writes: "I 

 have found seven nests of the Thrush this 

 year, all of which except three contained 

 five eggs. They lay four eggs much of tener 

 than they do five, I think. 



BITTERN. 



In the July number you say that the bird 

 commonly called " Shite Poke " is the 

 Green Heron. There are birds in this 

 vicinity called " Shite Poke." They are 

 about two feet long, have long legs and 

 neck, and are of a dusty yellow color, 

 spotted with brown. Is "Green Heron" 

 the proper name for this bird ? 



W. B. H., Milw^aukee, Wis. 



The bird which you describe is the Am- 

 erican Bittern. This bird is commonly 

 called " Stake-driver" in the east. 



DATA BLANKS. 



E. T. A., of New York city, writes: 

 "At sometime, in The Young Oologist, 



will you not give the method of filling out 

 a data blank when one or more eggs of the 

 set have been broken, in blowing or other- 

 wise ? In other words, should you put 

 down as the number of eggs in the set , the 

 number of eggs actually laid, or only the 

 number of eggs you have managed to 

 save? If the former, should there not be 

 some way of stating on the blank that some 

 of the eggs are wanting? An answer will, 

 I have no doubt, be of use to readers of 

 The Young Oologist other than myself." 

 In giving the number of eggs in a set 

 when filling a data blank always put down 

 the number of eggs actually laid by the 

 bird ; should any of the eggs become 

 broken the fact should be noticed on the 

 margin of the blank. Usually there is 

 space enough left after the description of 

 the nest for any additional "remarks" or 

 items of interest. 



rose-breasted grosbeak. 

 Editor op Young Oologist : 



Dear Sir, — I found the nest of a bird a 

 few weeks ago that I cannot name. The 

 female is a dark brown, somewhat similar 

 to the female of the Red-winged Black-bird 

 and about the same size. The male is a 

 little .smaller than the Robin, back and 

 head a dark brown, belly white and the 

 breast white, covered with red spots, and 

 around the neck a red collar. There were 

 three eggs in the nest and of the size of 

 the Cat-bird. The nest was on an apple 

 tree, made of fine sticks and similar to a 

 Robin's nest. A. H. W., 



Battle Creek, Mich. 



Your nest was that of the Rose-breasted 

 Grosbeak. 



unspotted eggs op the chipping 



SPARROW, etc. 



C. H. A., Taunton, Mass., writes: "1 

 want to know if any of the readers of The 

 Young Oologist have ever found a set of 

 the Chipping Sparrow without a spot. 

 Such was my case. In 1881 I found a set 

 of four eggs in an orchard tree. The eggs 

 averaged about the same as those given in 

 Minot's book for that bird. I have also 

 found one more egg near the same locality 

 without spots, which probably shows that 

 the same bird lays plain eggs. I have 

 found a Red-eyed Vireo's egg with but one 

 single splash of brownish black. I once 

 found a set of Bridge Pewee's eggs with 

 the ends thickly covered with spots. A set 

 of Pewee's eggs without any spots is a rare 

 occurrence in our neisrhborhood. 



