EGGS: 



The complement of eggs is usually four, sometimes five, rarely six. The ground-color of a number 

 of blown eggs before me varies from a grayish-white to a pinkish-white. The majority have a faint blue- 

 gray tinge. The markings are very variable. One egg before me has but one decided mark upon it, this is 

 at the base, and is an irregular blotch of sepia about one-fourth of an inch long by one-sixteenth wide. 

 The entire shell is pretty thickly marked with faint pinkish blotches, spots, and speckles. One is thickly 

 and evenly blotched, spotted, and speckled with similar faded pinkish-brown marks, but contains no well- 

 defined spots. One has numerous faint lavender spots and speckles and four or five irregular blotches of 

 sepia very similar to the marks on the Orchard Oriole's egg. One is thickly blotched with reddish-brown, 

 the blotches being fainter at the edges than in the center, and the marks are crowded at the base so that 

 they form a confluent wreath. One has spots of faint lavender, and small blotches and speckles 

 of reddish-brown, and, besides, numerous dots, lines, and scrawls of intense sepia. Others present various 

 combinations of the markings described. Of twenty specimens, the average long-diameter is .78, the 

 average short-diameter is .60. The greatest long-diameter is .84, the greatest short-diameter is .68. The 

 least long-diameter is .76, the least short-diameter is .57. A common size is about .79x.60. 



DIFFERENTIAL POINTS: 



See Table. 



REMARKS : 



The nest and eggs illustrated, Plate XLVIII, Fig. 2, was found May 12th, 1880. The nest was care- 

 fully lifted from its position and placed upon level ground, so that the drawing would show to better advan- 

 tage the depth of the structure and the material of which it is composed. The eggs figured illustrate 

 the sizes, shapes, and patterns commonly met with. The middle egg of the three lower ones is perhaps 

 nearest the average in all respects. 



The Bay-winged Bunting is in the neighborhood of Circlevillc and Chillicothe nearly as plentiful as 

 the Song-Sparrow, but it is not as well known to the people, from the fact that it avoids towns and resi- 

 dences. The song of this species is pleasing and is most frequently heard in the evening, often after 

 other birds are silent; accordingly, it has been named the Vesper Sparrow. 



Mr. Audubon did not meet with the Bay-winged Bunting in Ohio, when he journeyed through the 

 State. It is probable that at that time it was not a resident. Like the Black-throated Bunting and 

 some other birds, it has but recently become common. Like many other birds that build on the ground, 

 the Bay-winged Bunting feigns lameness when she believes her nest or young are in danger. I have up- 

 on several occasions witnessed this ruse and once was fooled by it, so perfectly did the mother play the 

 role of cripple. The female sits closely upon her nest, and will permit one to approach within a foot or 

 two before she will leave it. Generally, she runs a short distance before taking wing. 



170 



