144 



THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



crows were flying to their resting place 

 above the city I heard one make that sound. 

 I have often heard that sound before but 

 never in spring and always in the fall and 

 winter. I should like to hear the views of 

 some others on this subject. It is very in- 

 teresting to watch them ' ' tack" to take 

 advantage of the upper air currents. 

 Will C. Parsons, 



Columbus, O. 



Spotted Robin Eggs. 



I noticed in the January number of the 

 Young Oologist, that Mr. John A. 

 Martin of Wallingford, C'ouii., spoke of 

 finding Spotted Robin eggs. In 1882, in 

 company with a friend while oul collecting, 

 Ave came upon a Robin's nest with the bird 

 on the nest, and as it was low, I climbed to 

 the top of a wall, (It was over the wall on 

 the branch of a sapling) and rciiched the eggs. 

 On looking at them I saw thej" were spot- 

 ted, there were (3) in the nest which I took. 

 This was the only instance that had come 

 under my observation until I saw a set of 

 five (very unusual, just the number alone, | 

 as I never took but one set of that number) 

 which were spotted with blotches as large as ' 

 a No. 1 shot (the blotches were black), i 

 They were found by a little boy, and he | 

 sold the set for 1 5 cents. H.vwk, i 



Norwich, Conn. | 



Chas. E. Doe, of Providence, R. I., : 

 Av rites : — Seeing your extract on Spotted | 

 Robins eggs, reminds me of a set of four of 

 same that was collected by a young friend 

 of mine near Providence, and brought to 

 me to see if I could tell what they were. 

 The nest was built in a spruce tree, and 

 contained three spotted eggs, and one 

 unspotted; this was during the latter part 

 of May 1888. 



C. W, Swallow of Tyngsboro, Mass., 

 writes in regard to the Spotted Robin egg : 

 "Would state that I have one. I took it 

 from a nest in an apple tree. May 21, 1884. 

 The nest Avas about seven feet from the 

 ground, built in tlic usual manner, and 

 contained four eggs. I did not notice the 

 spots at the time, so could not state whether 

 the other three were spotted or not. After- 



wards I noticed the egg was quite thickly 

 covered with small brown spots, more 

 numerous about the large end. The egg is 

 a little smaller than the usual size and 

 lighter colored." 



.-♦. » - 



Hummingbirds Laying in an Unfin- 

 ished Nest. 



One day last summer, in North Carolina, 

 while out after eggs and birds for speci- 

 mens, my attention was drawn towards a 

 hummingbird which several times flew 

 to a spot on a slender limb of a sweet gum 

 tree I was watching. I saw nothing, but 

 changing my position, I discovered a nest 

 about twelve feet from the ground. I have 

 the nest before me now ; it is made entirely 

 of the soft down of, I think, the muUien, 

 and instead of being thickly covered with 

 lichens, as is u.sual, it has almost none at 

 all, and is apparently not finished. From 

 what I could see, the old bird Avas at work 

 on the nest. There were two eggs in the 

 nest, perfectly fresli. 



Now here is what I would like to know: 

 Do Inimmingbirds. or indeed any other 

 birds, ever lay their eggs before their nest 

 is completed? E. T. A., 



New York. 



— •-•-» 



Wisconsin Birds. 



I noticed with interest the list of Wis- 

 consin birds published in a lecent number 

 of The Young Oologist, and should like 

 to make the following additions : 



King Rail (R(tUi)s elegans)—'FoundhTeed- 

 ing on Lake Ko.shkanong. Jefferson county, 

 b)'^ Mr. Ludwig Kumlien. 



Louisiana Tanager {Pyraivja ludotyiciwaa) 

 — Found breeding on Lake Koshkanong by 

 Mr. Theo. Kumlien. 



Frigate (Tachypetes coquilvs) — One speci- 

 men shot near here. 



White-winged Black Tern (Sierjui- leu- 

 Goptern) One specimen shot by Mr. Theo. 

 Kumlien at Lake Koshkanong. 



Franklin's Rosy Gull {Chroicocephcdus 

 frankUni . 



St. Domingo Duck {Erismaturia domin- 

 im) — ]\Ir. Theo. Kumlien, Lake Koshha- 

 uong. These birds were all positively 

 identified and a part of them are now in 

 the MilAvaukee Public Museum. 



The Young Oologist is a vejy inter- 

 esting paper, and 1 think that any one in- 

 terested in Birds cannot well be without it. 

 Chas. a. Keelek, 

 Milwiiukee, Wis. 



