24 



THE OOLOGIST 



apple and pear trees we find the Red- 

 backed Shrike's nest. 



High up the tallest apple and pear 

 trees, in a fork and covered with moss 

 to harmonize with the color of the 

 limbs, is perched the Missel Thrush's 

 nest and it is one of the first to be 

 built and often has a clutch before the 

 end of March. 



In the south of England in places 

 where the land is poor and the com- 

 mons have not been "enclosed" and 

 where they are still rough acres of 

 bracken, gorse bushes and scraggy 

 wood we shall find the commons a 

 good hunting ground and ,a place 

 where the gamekeepers has no author- 

 ity. The gorse bushes are the favor- 

 ite nesting site of the Linnet but house 

 also Thrushes, Blackbirds, Hedge 

 Sparrows, Chaffinches, Long-tailed 

 Tits with their most beautiful domed 

 nests of moss decked all over with 

 lichen, and many of the warblers. The 

 pond, if there is one, will be fringed 

 with reeds amongst which we may 

 find suspended the nests of the Sedge 

 and Reed Warblers while, only just 

 raised above the water and among the 

 reeds, we shall perhaps find the nest 

 of the Wild Duck, Moorhen, Coot and 

 Little Grebe. 



Another time, if your editor has the 

 space to spare, I may have a word to 

 say about nesting in the wilder parts 

 of the country among the waders and 

 sea birds. 



K. L. Skinner, 

 Weybridge, England. 



Unusual Sets of Red Tail Hawk Eggs 



In arranging our series of eggs of 

 this bird we ran across several that 

 are worthy of note. The following 

 first five sets are the largest eggs of 

 this species that have come under our 

 observation. It takes a large series of 

 the eggs of any birds from which to 

 draw safe conclusions, and our con- 



clusion as a result of the examination 

 and handling of approximately 200 

 sets of the eggs of this bird, 96 sets 

 of which are still in our collection, is 

 that these five sets are among the 

 largest eggs of this bird in existence. 



March 24, 1886. R. M. Barnes, La- 

 con, 111. A very heavily marker set. 



2.50 x 1.01, 2.50 x 1.01, 2.45 x 1.99. 



April 11, 1892. A. C. Miurchisan, Ke- 

 wanee, 111. Both eggs almost unmark- 

 ed. 



2.55 x 2.04, 2.52 x 2.03. 



April 7, 1905. Henry W. Beers, 

 Warren, Connecticut. One well mark- 

 ed and one nearly unmarked. 



2.55 x 2.04, 2.53 x 2.01. 



April 11, 1912. Henry W. Beers, 

 Warren, Connecticut. One egg well 

 marked and one fairly well marked. 



2.55 x 2.02, 2.49 x 2.03. 



April 7, 1904. Henry W. Beers, 

 Warren, Connecticut. Two eggs fair- 

 ly well marked and one very lightly 

 clouded over about one-fourth the sur- 

 face. 



2.55 x 1.99, 2.47 x 1.95, 2. 50 x 1.96. 



In this connection it is worthy of 

 note that the following set are the 

 smallest eggs of this bird that have 

 ever come under the observation of 

 the writer. We wonder whether any 

 other oologists have any larger or 

 smaller eggs than are above referred 

 to. 



April 1, 1894. R. M. Barnes, Lacon, 

 111. One egg sparsely blocked, the 

 other faintly marked about the larger 

 end. 



2.99 x 1.64, 2.23 x 1.66. 



R. M. Barnes. 



Robins in Pineallas County Florida 



We had not seen any Robins around 

 our place all the winter of 1914-15 un- 

 til Feb. 9th, when they paid us a visit 

 and stayed until the 16th. We have 

 two large Camphor trees that were 

 loaded with their black acrid berries, 



