30 



THE OOLOGIST. 



it was most probably below the actual a- 

 mount. Can you think how much food 

 such a crowd would require? Wilson 

 thought of it, and allowing each bird but 

 a half pint of food per day, he found the 

 whole quantity Avould be 17,424,000 bush- 

 ed daily. 



The great colony of Pigeons leave the 

 young when a few days old and commence 

 a neAV nesting, while a few of the males 

 remain with the young until they are able 

 to fly. Chas. W. Gunn. 



The Black-throated Bunting. 



( Euspiza americana.) 



'T^HIS bird is very abundant in this vi- 

 -*■ cinity (llh)? ^^^ ^^^7 t)e seen perch- 

 ed on hedges and fences, as you walk in 

 any direction. 



It is about the size of the Chipping Spar- 

 row, feathers on the back about similar in 

 color; breast of a yellowish tint, with a 

 black spot or collar on the throat. Its song 

 does not amount to much, being short and 

 weak, soon growing, monotonous. The 

 male dviring the season of incubation perch- 

 es on the highest place attainable near his 

 nest, and there cheers his mate Avith the 

 knowledge of his presence. 



It arrives from the south about the last 

 of April, and by the middle or last of May 

 the nest is built and the eggs are laid. The 

 first nest I collected this year on the 28th 

 of May contained four fresh eggs, and one 

 collected on the 16th of June contained five 

 eggs with small embryos. The nest is 

 made of dried spears of grass, straw, small 

 roots and corn husks, and one nest which 

 I have has quite a large piece of newspaper 

 woven in. It is lined with fine grass and 

 black horsehair, and is about 4 inches high, 

 2i inches deep, 3 inches inside diameter and 

 3i inches outside diameter. The nest is 

 generally found in a hedge or clump of grass. 

 If in the former it is placed about two or 

 three feet from the ground, and is quite easy 

 to find ; if in the latter, it is placed about 

 eight inches from the ground and can sel- 



I dom be found unless you happen to pass so 

 near as to scare the bird off. Dr. Coues 

 I says in his '"Birds of the N. W." that "the 

 nest is almost invariably placed on the 

 i grovmd, but occasionally in a thick gi'ass 

 j clump," but I have not been able to find a 

 i single one on the ground. I have collected 

 I ten nests of this species this season, and all 

 ; but two have been found in hedges, and 

 those two were found one about eight inch- 

 es and the other about a foot from the ground 

 I in a clump of grass. The eggs are four or 

 five in number and of the same sliade of 

 : blue as those of the Blue Bird. I have 

 i read that they are sometimes spotted, but 

 I have never seen any. One set of four eggs 

 I measures .87 by .68; .87 by .68; .81 by 

 i .62 ; and .81 by .68 inches. Another set 

 of five eggs each measure .75 by .62 inch- 

 es. Most birds, when they think their nest 

 is in danger will endeavor to entice the in- 

 truder away. This bird on the contrary, 

 seems to lead the way to its nest, as in one 

 instance Avhen I was out, the male bird 

 flew from bush to bush, keeping only a 

 couple of yards away, until finally I found 

 the nest. 



I have found nests as late as the 21st of 

 June, containing a fresh egg, and it was 

 evident the bird had not finished laying. 

 : Judging from this, I should set the time of 

 laying as between the middle of May and 

 last of June, making nearly a month and a 

 half during which time the collector would 

 I be apt to find their nests and eggs. It is 

 ■ called Little Field Lark in Ohio, and in 

 this State, Dick-sissel and Judas-bird. Not 

 having observed the time of its migration, 

 I cannot say how long it remains with us, 

 but judge not later than September or Oc- 

 tober. "Euspiza." 



The Leatherstocking Club of Oswego, 

 N. Y., held a pigeon shoot on May 19. 



A LARGE Gray Eagle was taken by a 

 i young man near Chenango Lake, N. Y.. 

 ' recently, measuring eight feet in extent. 



