124 



THE OOLOGIST. 



select a site for their nest. The site 

 picked out is in some bird box or 

 crevice about some building, but in 

 my experience it is most often a cav- 

 ity in a tree that is chosen. In tJhis 

 they build a nest of grass, straw, 

 sticks, etc. I have never found a nest 

 lined with any soft material. They 

 lay from four to six beautiful palle 

 blue eggs; usually four or five, but on 

 May 6, last, I found a set of 7 eggs in 

 a cavity in an old apple tree 15 feet 

 from the ground. One of the seven 

 eggs which I mention, which were two- 

 thirds advanced in incubation, was 

 cracked entirely around, but when 

 blown the chick was 1 found to be very 

 much alive. 



The young are of a slaty color, with 

 a white spot on the throat. They 

 leave the nest between two and three 

 weeks old. Two broods are generally 

 reared in a season. 



Should not the Starling be encour- 

 aged to the greatest extent possible? 



I should like to hear from other ob- 

 servers on the subject of the Starling 

 driving out the Sparrows. 

 P. G. HOWIES, 



iStamford, Conn. 



Mr. Ernest H. Short, Chili, N. Y. 



Dear Sir: — Having sent a set of 

 eggs to you for identification last year, 

 which you identified as Baird's Spar- 

 row (Ammodramus Bairdii), I thought 

 it might be of interest to you to know 

 that although previous to my finding 

 that set of eggs there was no record 

 authentic or otherwise of the occur- 

 rence of the bird in the state of Kan- 

 sas. I have this year collected two 

 skins of this bird, and found a nest 

 of the same containing one downy 

 young bird, thus proving beyond a 

 doubt by two consecutive year's rec- 

 ords that it IS a regular breeder in 

 Kansas'. 



I write this to express my grati- 

 tude to you for your kindness in aid- 



ing me to establish this record. 



I would indeed be grateful to you. 

 if you should see fit to have, you 

 should call attention to this record in 

 the "Oologist." 



Thanking you for past favors and 

 for your help, I remain, 

 Fraternally, 



LOGAN EVANS, 



WiLsey, Kan. 



Editor of The Oologist: — 



In regard to the question, "Can 

 birds distinguish their eggs and young 

 from those of others? 1 " I write as fol- 

 lows: On June 17th, I found a nest 

 of Carolina Wren with four fresh eggs 

 in it. Having found a Catbird's nest 

 near by containing three eggs, I re- 

 moved the latter and placed them in 

 the nest of the former. The mother 

 bird returning to her nest did not no- 

 tice the exchange, but quietly resumed 

 her task of incubating the eggs. Two 

 weeks later I visited the nest to find 

 that it contained three young Catbirds. 

 Both birds seemed to be very atten- 

 tive to the wants of their young for 

 about two days, when a cat discovered 

 the nest and robbed it of it's occu- 

 pants. 



I find that Wrens, Catbirds, Wood 

 Thrushes, Cardinals, and Sparrows, 

 such as Chipping, Song and English, 

 can be easily fooled with marbles or 

 smooth rocks substituted for their 

 eggs. I find that most of them, where 

 there is an incomplete set, will com- 

 plete it if rocks or marbles are sub- 

 stituted for the eggs taken, while 

 some will remove them and complete 

 the set. 



Will you please let me know wheth- 

 er a set of six of the English Sparrow 

 is uncommon? Hoping that you may 

 make some use of the above. 

 I remain yours truly, 

 D. H. BURGESS, 

 Petersburg, Va. 



Ans. — No! 'Sets of six English Spar- 

 row are common in my experience. — 

 ED. 



