52 



THE OOLOGIST. 



alive to the house of the late Mr. C. P. Da- 

 vis of Utica, from Illinois, and remaining in 

 the room over night, deposited the egg up- 

 on the floor. The specimen is rather odd- 

 ly figured, the bulk of all the markings be- 

 ing collected in one large blotch upon the 

 crown of the large end, the remaining mark- 

 ings being distributed over the surface in 

 fine spots. It measures .93 inch in breadth 

 by 1.28 inch in length. It^ ground color 

 is a very light grayish-brown. 



If any of the readers of The Ooi.ogist 

 can give any additional information on this 

 subject, I should be glad to see it pub- 

 lished. Fked. J. Davis. 



Large-billed Water Thrush. 



The Large-billed Water Thrush breeds 

 in many parts of the United States. It is 

 seen about the borders of lakes, rivers, and 

 ponds, principally in marshy and wet places 

 covered with a heavy growth of bushes and 

 dwarf trees. It is found commonly in tlie 

 south, where many of the nests of this bird 

 have been secured. Some have nested in 

 the New England States. Drs. Coues aud 

 Prentiss have observed this 'Jlirush repeat- 

 edly in the District of Columbia, and think 

 it breeds there, from having obtained birds 

 in June. , 



From a southern collector I have learned 

 that the nest is placed either on the ground, 

 or in a low bush very near the ground, and 

 is built of dried leaves, roots a little mud, 

 some pieces of weeds, and grasses. The 

 foundation of the nest is rather solid and 

 large. The nest is not quite as deeply hol- 

 lowed as those of Wilson's and the Wood 

 Thrush, but is otherwise nearly like them. 

 If placed on the ground, it may be looked 

 for under a bush or tuft of rank grass, or 

 near a decayed log or heap of rubbish. If 

 in a bush, it is usually but a few inches 

 from the ground, and as it at all times is 

 greatly like the surrounding pale objects, it 

 is rather diiUcult to find. Besides, if fright- 

 ened the bird usually gets noislessly oiF the 

 nest and runs on the ground for some dis- 

 tance, but again approaches through the 



bushes, where it may sometimes be discov- 

 ered, as it keeps up the jerky motion of the 

 tail, which betrays it at times when it might 

 otherwise remain well concealed. 



The eggs I believe are four. They are 

 difi'erent from any eggs I ever saw. Four 

 specimens from North Carolina measure 

 .70 by .57, .70 by .58, .70 by .58, and 

 .71 by .59. They are pure white, ovoid, 

 and spotted almost exclusively on the large 

 end, with light reddish brown. All the 

 specimens are just alike except the slight 

 difference in size, and I should think they 

 were as a variety, less liable to differ in 

 shape and color than the eggs of any spe- 

 cies I know of. The cut does not perhaps, 

 do justice to tlie egg of this bird, for it is 

 always very handsome and delicate, both 

 in tint, spotting, and shape. Avis. 



A Spotted Yellov^^-bird's Egg. — We 

 have been handed an egg taken from a Yel- 

 low-bird's nest this 

 summer, that in our 

 estimation, is woi'th- 

 ; y of notice in the col- 

 umns of The OoLO- 

 ':.GiST. In respect to 

 form, size and general appearance it is like 

 every other Y^^llow-bird's egg", but is speck- 

 led distinctly, with a large number of fine, 

 pale reddish aiid lilac points on the greater 

 end. Some time ago, in one of the first 

 numbers of this journal, we gave an item 

 on the " Variation of Eggs," in the course 

 of which a very singular egg of the Yellow- 

 bird was figured and described, it being one 

 of a set of five exceedingly diminutive spec- 

 imens, taken from a nest in an alder bush. 

 We really would not part with our spotted 

 Yellow-bird's egg for twenty times the val- 

 ue of an ordinary specimen. 



