THE BIOLOGICAL REVIEW. 69 



It contained six eggs, measuring i 1-16' long by f' in diame- 

 ter, of a dull, dirty-white ground color, very thickly blotched 

 .and spotted with brownish-purple. 



The female bird was very much excited by my intrusion of 

 her domains, and flew continually around me while I was 

 ■examining the nest. I saw nothing of the male. 



Quiscalus quiscula ceneus (Bronzed Grackle). — A very abun- 

 dant species, it does not associate with other blackbirds but 

 keeps aloof by itself. It breeds abundantly either in the rushes 

 surrounding the small lakes or in thick willow swamps. I found 

 one colony in possession of a long, dense, swampy patch of 

 willows; this was in the latter part of May of 1893, an d every 

 nest contained some eggs. There was between thirty and forty 

 nests, which were large bulky affairs, some rebuilt on old 

 foundations two or three seasons, composed of dead grass and 

 weeds, deeply hollowed and lined with finer grass and other soft 

 materials. These were placed securely in thick bushes, from 

 five to fifteen feet from the ground, some standing in water, 

 •others on dryer ground. 



I visited all their nests and found eggs in all, some with the 

 set not yet completed and some partly incubated ; five or six 

 eggs in a set. I was much struck by the great difference in 

 .size and color exhibited in the eggs. The prevailing ground- 

 color was dark bluish-green, thickly spotted and blotched with 

 brown and indistinct lilac markings, but they varied from this 

 to a light blue with a few brown scratches or spots. 



Though I collected quite a number, I did not make any 

 measurements, as the mice destroyed them all ; but there was 

 much disparity in shape and size, some being small and nearly 

 -oval, others much larger and more pyriform in shape. 



The birds were exceedingly vociferous and bold, the female 

 allowing me to almost touch her before she left the nest and 

 then moving only two or three yards away, and scolding incess- 

 antly ; the males kept at a safer distance but were every bit as 

 loud in their outcry. 



Colymbus holbcellii (Holboellii Grebe). — A 'common summer 

 resident at Prince Albert, and breeds abundantly in the lakes 

 and sloughs. 



