NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 445 



breeding grounds where the birds had nested the previous year and 

 their mound-like nests were still standing. The birds nest in June. 

 The number of eggs to a clutch is usually two, sometimes only one 

 and- very rarely three. When three are found in a nest it is generally' 

 believed that the third has been laid by another female. According to 

 Mr. Ingraham's observations the nests in our illustration must be con- 

 sidered conventional, the attitude of the bird on the nest being correct, 

 and as stated on page 86. 



[288] Jacana gymnostoma ( Waol.) 

 Page 136. This now hecom.es/acana spinosa (Linn). 



[358.1.] Falco regulus Pall. 



Merlin. 



Hab. Europe^ etc., accidental in Greenland, 



Mr. Ludvig Kumlien, of the Public Museum, Milwaukee, Wiscon- 

 sin, received from Dr. C. F. Wiepken, of Oldenburg, Germany, a fine 

 specimen of this bird, which was shot at Cape Farewell, Greenland, 

 May 3, 1875, making an additional species to the avifauna of North 

 America. It is a common bird in Europe, especially in the more north- 

 ern portions. In England it is considered migratory, while in Scotland 

 it resides permanently. It breeds commonly in the Orkney and Shet- 

 land Islands, placing its nest among precipitous rocks. It was for- 

 merly trained to the chase, and used to hawk for quails, snipes and 

 larks. The rugged mountain ranges on the Scottish border furnish 

 many breeding places for the" Merlin. The site generally selected is 

 the side of some ravine, a projecting rock, bank, or tuft of heath. 

 The nest consists of a scanty supply of sticks, heather, grass or moss, 

 loosely arranged. The eggs are three, four or five in number; Bewick 

 says six ; Temminck, five or six. They are bluish-white, spotted and 

 ■ blotched, generally more thickly at the larger end, with deep red- 

 dish-brown. Average size, 1.49x1.20. 



[359.1] Palco tinnunculus Linn. [422] 



Kestrel. 



Hab. Europe, etc., accidental in Massachusetts. 



Mr. Charles B. Cory, of Boston, Massachusetts, makes record of the 

 first occurrence of this bird in North America. A female specimen was 

 shot by a hunter at Strawberry Hill, Nantasket Beach, Massachusetts, on 

 September 29, 1887, the skin of which is now in Mr. Cory's cabinet.* The 

 European Kestrel thus finds a place in the avifauna of North America, 

 It is a common species in Europe, and one of the most abundant of its 

 tribe in Great Britain. It resembles the American Sparrow Hawk in 



«Auk, V. 110 and 205. 



