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THE OOLOGIST. 



Devoted to Birds and Birds' Eggs 



SECOND PUBLICATION YEAR. 



S. L. WiLLARD & Co., 



Editors. 



SUBSCRIPTION 



40 cents a year, in advance, postage prepaid. 



Authors. — Sketches pertaining to our 

 branch of natural history may be sent us with 

 prices marked thereon. We will give them a 

 careful perusal, and if satisfactory, will ac- 

 cept them. None but original and authentic 

 sketches noticed. 



Egg-dealers and Collectors.— Persons 

 wishing to dispose of eggs, cabinets, skins, 

 etc., will find The Oologist the best means 

 of communicating the fact to collectors of any 

 paper published. , 



Specimen copy for stamp. 



Address all communications to 



TEE OOLOGIST, 



Oneida Street, Utica, N. Y. 



FEBRUARY, 1877. 



SELECTION OF NESTING 

 PLACES. 



T^ACH species of bird has its individual 

 -■— ' characteristics in respect to the places 

 selected for nidification, and as a rule most 

 birds adhere to these places, in whatever 

 part of the country they may be. Regard- 

 ing each family of birds as a unit, we can- 



not, according to their structure and di- 

 versity of habits, perceive any marked de- 

 viation from the habitual selection of places 

 in which to nidificate. We find however, 

 that individual species, to no small extent 

 break upon their customary choice of situ- 

 ation for nidification, and that a bird which 

 nidulates without exception in trees for a 

 period of seasons, may the next year, build 

 its nest in a bush or upon the ground ; a 

 bird that seldom is known to breed except 

 in deep, dark forests, may one season build 

 its nest in precincts claiming the protection 

 of man, or vice versa. In most instances 

 no apparent motive is attributable for this 

 occasional deviation from the common nest- 

 ing places. Occasionally, the influences of 

 the climate in a particular section, or the 

 failure of food-matter, will have a tendency 

 to compel a bird to desert its favorite haunts 

 for those more favorable, and this sometimes 

 leads to the construction of its nest in places 

 and under circumstances quite different 

 from its ordinary habit in this respect. 



Doubtless if collectors would make it an 

 object to note down all the particulars of 

 the nests they find, that exhibit any pecu- 

 liarity of situation or form, we should find 

 very much of interest. If it were ascer- 

 tained that a Belted Kingfisher had laid its 

 eggs in the hole of a tree, the note would 

 be of considerable worth, or, did some en- 

 terprising naturalist discover an elaborate 

 Heron's nest, he would be justified in mak- 

 ing an extensive item of the fact, and yet 

 just such details are very often overlooked. 

 We do not find the nest of the Kind Bird 

 in the depths of the forest ; nor do we find 

 the nests of the Ivory-billed, Pileated, or 

 some of the other Woodpeckers in strag- 

 gling trees about the habitations of man ; 

 still, did a parallel case come under the no- 

 tice of some collectors, no particular atten- 

 tion would be given to it, even though the 

 construction of the nest, an ordinary affair, 

 were elaborately detailed. Any peculiarity 

 in the situation or locality of a nest is al- 

 ways of special interest to ornithologists. 



The Chipping Sparrow does not often 

 construct its nest upon the ground, much 



