11. 



cert of twitterings, subsided present- 

 ly, to be repeated after the next bit 

 was eaten. By and by the crumbs 

 were all gone, but the little fellows 

 — every one of the twenty-seven — 

 remained to give a charming little 

 concert of thanks, then flitted away. 

 — Boston Home Journal. 



Painted Bunting or 

 Nonpariel. 



(PASSERINA CIRIS.)" 



This bird is one of the migratory 

 tribe wintering in South America 

 and the West India Islands. It is 

 one of the handsomest birds we 

 have, beautiful in plumage and rich 

 in color, besides having a very pleas- 

 ant song. It generally arrives at 

 Savannah by the 14th of April. I 

 have never seen them any earlier, 

 and have watched them for years. 

 They commence to build early in 

 May; I have found their nests as 

 early as May 7th, with eggs; they 

 build a neat nest composed of paper, 

 rags, withered plants, leaves, etc., 

 lined with fine fiberous roots and 

 sometimes horse-hair. They have 

 no regular place to build, as you 

 will find them in the smallest bushes 

 to the largest trees. I know of no 

 bird that the collector needs to 

 watch more than he does the Paint- 

 ed Bunting. At first sight the fe- 

 male looks a great deal like some of 

 the Warblers and Vireos, and the 

 eggs vary a great deal in size and 

 markings, but the general type is 

 white, with red, amber, purple and 

 lilac shadings. Last summer, while 

 out collecting, I found a nest in a 

 small pine sapling, about four feet 

 from the ground; it contained four 

 eggs so thickly marked with ferrug- 

 inous dottings, as to appear that color. 

 As I was somewhat doubtful about 

 its identity, I concealed myself near 

 by to watch; I had not long to wait 

 before the bird came and went on 

 the nest; I shot it, and it proved to 



be a female Painted Bunting. I have 

 often found two and three nests in 

 the same tree, placed in the moss; 

 I have collected as many as forty 

 eggs of this species in one afternoon. 

 Another striking thing about this 

 bird is, that it will very often build 

 its nest on top of another Bunting's 

 nest I cite a case here: On June 23d, 

 1883, I found a nest which contained 

 one egg and one young bird; the 

 whole structure was about eight 

 inches long outside, and only about 

 two and one-half inches deep inside. 

 I was somewhat 'surprised, and 

 thought it strange that the nest 

 should be so long and yet so shallow, 

 so I took the egg and young bird 

 out and laid them on the ground, and 

 commenced to pull the nest apart, 

 when I found another perfect nest, 

 which contained three eggs slightly 

 incubated, and upon the ground un- 

 derneath the nest, among the leaves, 

 I found two more eggs which doubt- 

 less had fallen from the top nest, as 

 incubation was far advanced. I 

 have often found eight eggs in one 

 nest, thus leaving little doubt that 

 two birds sometimes lay in the same 

 nest. I have found nests with eggs 

 as late as July 20th, so I think they 

 must rear two, if not three broods 

 during the season. 



Troup D. Perry, 

 Savannah, Ga. 

 — The Young Oologist. 



A Bare Bird. 



Capt. R. B. Baxter and Prof. D. 

 Q. Abbott went out on a bird hunt 

 Saturday morning last, and the cap- 

 tain succeeded in killing a white 

 robin. It was beautiful bird with 

 white back, tail, wings, and head 

 and a red breast. It was a the only 

 one of the kind ever seen here. — 

 Sparta (Ga.) Ishmadite. 



Now is the time to subscribe 

 The Ornithologist. 



for 



