44 NESTS AND EGOS OF 



Ohio.* He found it "nesting, or rather laying its eggs, on the little islands of de- 

 caying vegetatidn and mud formed by sunken muskrat houses. Three eggs consti- 

 tute a full set, and tlvey are apparently rolled about in the mud purposely until well' 

 coated, so as to hide the markings, and thereby make them less conspicuous." Mr. 

 Langdon says that in two or three instances an attempt at nest building was notice- 

 able, consisting merely of a few fragments of grasses, so disposed as to prevent 

 ' the eggs from rolling. TwO broods are reared in a season, as eggs were taken in 

 May, and Mr. Langdon collected fresh eggs in July. They vary from brown to 

 greenish; thickly spotted and blotched with brown and lilac of various sizes, but 

 mostly bold, large and of light and blackish brown, thickest around the larger end. 

 They resemble some of the sandpipers' eggs in size, shape and color. _ Average size 

 1.35X.98. 



78. WHITE-WINGED BLACK TEMT. Hydrochelidon leucoptera (Meisn & 

 Schinz.) Geog. Dist. — Eastern Hemisphere; accidental in North America. 



A single example of this European species was taken on Lake Koshkonong, Wis- 

 consin, in the first week of July, 1873. The ovaries of this specimen contained small 

 eggs. It occurs occasionally in Great Britain, and is accidental in Sweden. On the 

 lakes, rivers and marshes of the countries of the Alps it is said to be very common, 

 and also in the bays and inlets of the Mediterranean Sea. Its nesting and general 

 habits are said to be like those of H. nigra surinamensis. The eggs, however, as a 

 general rule, have a lighter ground color, and average slightly larger than those of 

 the American bird. 



79. NODDY. Anos stoUdus (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— Tropical and sub-tropical 

 regions; in America, from Brazil and Chili north to the Gulf and South Atlantic 

 States. 



Dr. Brewer says: "The common Noddy Tern appears to be an inter-tropical 

 species, and to be found round the entire surface of the globe, both north and South 

 of the equator, at a distance from it of rarely exceeding thirty degrees north or 

 south." On the Island of St. Helena it is a common species, and it also breeds on 

 Ascension Island. , It breeds in profusion on several of the West Indies. On the 

 Bahamas the nests are built of sticks, leaves and grass, and they are placed in the 

 branches of trees. In some of the islands of the tropics this species places its nest 

 on the top branches of cocoanut trees and the outer branches of mangroves. It 

 lays but a single egg; this will vary from ashy-ye!low to buff or cream color. The 

 spots are small and scattered, dark chestnut, with subdued shell-markings of laven- 

 der gray; average size 2.00x1.35. 



80. BLACK SKIMMEB. Rynehops nigra Linn. Geog. Dist. — Warmer parts 

 of America, north on the Atlantic coast to New Jersey, and casually to the Bay of 

 Fundy. 



In summer the Black Skimmer is abundantly distributed from New Jersey 

 southward, and is strictly maritime. It may be known by its singularly, shaped bill. 



• Summer Birds of a Northern Ohio Marsh. 



