THE 00L0GI8T. 



87 



Nesting of thk Rough 

 LOW. — In answer to a cor 

 qiiiry for the nesting' liab- 

 its of thift bird, and ibr 

 the benefit of our I'ead- 

 ers in general, we will 

 briefly desci'ibe the eggs 

 and the situation of its 

 nest. Mr, T. G. Gent- 

 ly says : 



" Nidifieation takes 

 place generally about the 

 15th of May, at least 

 three or four days after 

 mating; and in cases 

 where the excavation of 

 a Bank S wallow has been 

 selected for tjie site of a 

 nest, it is but the work 

 of a couple of days. 

 Where the birds are com- 

 pelled to excavate a place 

 tor themselves, they se- 

 lect a cliff coniposed of a 

 sandy soil, Avhich pro- 

 longs the period for two 

 days more. But where 

 the crevices in the walls 

 of a bridge are chosen 

 for nidificating purposes, 

 the structure being nec- 

 essarily more compact, 

 it requires the joint labor 

 of the sexes for at least 

 three days. The nest 

 like that of the Bank 

 Swallow is constructed 

 of leaves and grasses, 

 with alining of soft feath- 

 ers. 



'' In 1843, in the 

 neighborhood of Carlisle, 

 Prof. Baird met a num- 

 ber of nests of this spe- 

 cies, built within crev- 

 ices in walls, and the 

 arches of bridges over 

 running water ; in some 

 instances being so close 

 to the edge of the water, 



suffer material injuries in times of 

 Again, nests have been observed in 

 out - of- the - way- places, 

 foi- example, between the 

 boards of a building in 

 which was a water-wheel 

 where the female had to 

 pass through a nut-hole 

 to reach the nest. 



" Oviposition imme- 

 diately follows nest-com- 

 pletion, and continues 

 for six days, one egg 

 being deposited d a i 1 y . 

 Incubation ensues the 

 succeeding day and as 

 far as we have been able 

 to determine is perform- 

 ed wholly by the female, 

 the male pi'oviding her 

 with nourishment. 



'' The eggs are oblong 

 in configuration, pointed 

 at one end, and of a pure 

 white color. The aver- 

 age length is .75 of an 

 inch and breadth ,54." 



The Rough - winged 

 Swallow is thought by 

 some to nest often in the 

 manner of the Chimney 

 Swift, by othei's in the 

 manner of the Cliff S.wal- 

 low, but it belongs to a 

 different genus and close- 

 ly resembles in its habits 

 the common Bank Swal- 

 low, which is its nearest 

 I'elative. 



Nest of Maryland Yellow-throat, 

 [See page 77.] 



The Shrike question 

 is still as important as 

 ever, and new facts up- 

 on the subject, especially 

 from correspondents in 

 the state, will be receiv- 

 ed with pleasure and giv- 

 en credit for in our col- 

 umns. 



