'S83-] Bailey on a Collectinn of Rggs front Georgia. '^'7 



MEMORANDA OF A COLLECTION OF EGGS 

 FROM GEORGIA. 



BY H. B. BAILEY. 



It was my fortune this summer to come into possession of a 

 collection of eggs made in Georgia, between the years 1853 and 

 1865, by the late Dr. S. W. Wilson. The notes accompanying 

 the same furnish the following memoranda which are of viilue, 

 since few collectors have visited, or at least reported on, this 

 locality. The collection was made chiefly on St. Simon's Island 

 and in Wayne and Mcintosh Comities. The eggs are remarkably 

 well preserved, each set being packed carefully in a separate 

 box labeled according to the old Smithsonian Catalogue. They 

 are always accompanied by dates and sometimes by copious 

 notes. The alleged nesting sites of a few of the species repre- 

 sented, are peculiar, and in the case of one or two, seemingly 

 improbable. But the collection, as a whole, seems to have been 

 so carefully identified that I give the notes as I find them leaving 

 it to the reader to accept or reject such as he chooses. The 

 field represented should be a profitable one for some of our pres- 

 ent collectors to visit. 



' I. Mimus polyglottus. Mockingbird. — Nests in low trees and 

 shrubs, near settlements ; eggs four or five. A set taken April i. 



2. Harporhynchus rufus. Brown Thrasher. — Nests in low bushes 

 or in fence corners ; eggs three or four. A set taken Maj- i. 



3. Sialia sialis. Bluebird.— Nests in hollow trees and similar places ; 

 eggs five. A set taken April, i. 



4. Polioptila caerulea. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. — Nests either 

 saddled on a branch of a tree or in a fork; eggs fo.ur or five. A set taken 

 April 30. 



5. Lophophanes bicolor. Tufted Titmouse. — Nest of the hair of 

 the hog and opossum, and the "epidermis" of pine leaves; in hollow trees. 

 A set of five eggs, taken May 8, was in a small oak five feet from the 

 ground. 



6. Parus carolinensis. Carolina Chickadee. — Nest in a hollow 

 stump, fence rail, or similar place near the ground: the bottom lined 

 with cotton and other soft materials. A set of six eggs taken April 10. 



7. Sitta pusilla. Brown-headed Nuthatch. — Eggs four, some- 

 times five. Nest in the stump of a large pine about two feet from the 

 ground ; after penetrating the bark a large cavity is completely filled with 



