138 



THE OOLOGISI . 93(°T 



four and two more sets of five of this 

 species. There is a great diversity 

 in the way the nests are constructed. 

 Some are deep and lined with grass 

 and horse hair, while others are con- 

 structed entirely of roots, and when 

 removed from nesting sites are so 

 trail that they easily fall to pieces; 

 and strange to say, every set I have 

 ever found, was perfectly fresh and 

 always contained full complements. 



I have found nearly a dozen empty 

 nests, many containing broken shell, 

 and I think I am right in saying that 

 half the nests each season of this spe- 

 cies are destroyed in some way, or 

 are washed away by the high water 

 after a heavy rain. Consequently, 

 the Swamp Sparrow cannot increase 

 rapidly, anl will probably become 



arc< each year, although they lay 

 two oi' three sets each season. In 

 my seiies of eight sets, sets of four 

 and five would be more common. I 

 have never seen a set of six collected 

 in Virginia. 



THOS. SEMMES, Jr. 



[If tins nest mentioned was really 

 thai (.1' the Acadian Flycatcher, the 

 situation would be unique. The nests 

 of this bird are usually attached to 

 forked twigs, well out on lower 

 limbs of trees in open spots or along 

 roadways and at outer edge of woods. 

 — Ed.~\ 



Spreading Dried Lepidoptera. 



From many comes the query: "How 

 can we spread the dry butterflies as 

 commonly received in papers?" 



The quickest way I have found, and 

 entirely satisfactory, is as follows: 



Take a strip of cotton cloth, pure 

 white and ALWAYS cotton. Colored 

 cloth will stain your specimens and 

 they will stick to w r oolen or silk fab- 

 rics. 



Soak the cloth thoroughly and wring 

 out surplus water. Fold cloth on wide 



board two thicknesses and lay on 

 your specimens. 



Now continue to fold the cloth back 

 and forth over them about four thick- 

 nesses deep and set aside for 24 

 hours. 



A good, practical and cheap spread- 

 ing board is made as follows: Take 

 a soft pine board 8 inches wide and 

 cut a groove in the center the entire 

 length. It is well to- have two boards, 

 one with a narrow groove, say 1-8 

 inch wide and one with a 3-8 inch 

 groove. 



If you want it nice "cut the groove 

 extra deep and fill in bottom with 

 strip of sheet cork, but if your pine is 

 the soft white pine, this will not be 

 necessary. 



When the butterflies have laid 20 to 

 24 hours, according to size and time 

 they have been dried, they should be 

 pliable enough to relax. This is eas- 

 ily ascertained by trying one. 



If you intend to mount on pins you 

 need the regular insect i ins, but if 

 you are spreading for glass top 

 mounts, any pin net too heavy will do, 

 as even a brass pin is easily removed 

 from a fly that has once been thor- 

 oughly dry. 



Pin the fly through the thorax se- 

 curely in the groove of proper width 

 to accommodate its body. Take a 

 pair of spring forceps and carefully 

 press wings down to board, one side 

 at a time. Pin a strip of smooth pa- 

 per across this side when down. Work 

 the wings out to proper position and 

 fasten strip of paper firmly to remain 

 until dry. Repeat same operation 

 with the other side and then with 

 antennae. 



The antennae are often lost on pa- 

 pered flies. With a little practice you 

 will find it easy to spread 12 to 20 at 

 a time and you will lose very few. 



S. H. E. 



