J8 



THE COLLECTORS' MONTHLY. 



But the nesting time is remarkably 

 uniform. Out of nine nests examined on 

 June second 1890, six had the full comple- 

 ment of four, and all but one set were 

 fresh. At a point seventy-five miles 

 farther West, June 10 and 11, in twenty 

 nests, two sets of two, three sets of three 

 and six sets of four were fresh ; in three 

 sets of three and four sets of four incuba- 

 tion was began, while in one set of four 

 and one of three only was incubation far 

 advanced (the nest containing the latter 

 set was deeply hidden beneath a dense 

 branch that almost trailed the ground, 

 and yet it is the only nest out of about 

 sixty which contained an egg of the cow 

 bunting. ) 



The normal egg of Bell's Vireo is I 

 should say a miniature of that of the 

 Red-eyes Vireo, but relatively more 

 elongate. The length is quite uniform. 

 In most eggs' the spots are small and 

 diffuse, and nearer the larger end. An 

 occasional egg is unspotted, One desert- 

 ed nest contained two such, and another 

 three. 



Among my treasures is a set of four 

 fresh eggs taken with their' deep bulky 

 nests, June 18, 1891. These are crystal 

 white, and very uniformly blotched with 

 cinnamon-red. While the spots on many 

 eggs are brown these are the only red 

 ones I have ever found, and the spots are 

 moreover unusually large. 



Bell's Vireo is an arrant scold. One 

 walks at leisure along the hedges, and 

 is positively startled to hear a short 

 monotonous and fretful note, shortly 

 and quickly and incessantly repeated. 

 This continues until the intruder has 

 disappeared. When it is heard, the nest 

 though often unfinished, will be found al- 

 ways not over forty feet away. 

 |$ Having never had the ill-fortune to 

 spend in Kansas the fiery months of July 

 ajid August, I know nothing of this 

 Vireo's after-math of young. By mid 



eptember the Vireo's are gone. 



P. B. Pbabody. 



Nesting of the King and 

 Virginia Rails, 



[Written For the Collectors' Monthly.] 



The general observer would character- 

 ize these two species, by saying that both 

 of them were larger, darker, and had 

 longer bills and toes, in proportion to 

 their size, than the Sora. This would be 

 true but there are other characteristics, 

 peculiar to these birds, that the student 

 comes to learn as he is brought in con- 

 tact with them. 



We must confine ourselves to the nest- 

 ing habits however. 



Both species begin to build their nests 

 about the middle of May, and many in- 

 complete sets may be found, for nearly a 

 month later. The nests are somewhat 

 more bulky, and have a thicker mat of 

 reeds etc., on the bottom, than those of 

 the Sora. Indeed, I have seen nests of 

 the King Rails, that were from six to 

 eight inches thick at the bottom. 



The eggs of both are much more delicate- 

 ly marked, than those of the Sora. Those 

 of the King rail measure about 1.65 x 

 1.20. The ground color is a dull white 

 or cream, with a slight tinge of lead 

 color, being thinly spoted with reddish 

 brown, and with lilac shell markings. 



The eggs of the Virginia, are much 

 smaller about 1. 24 x.91, but are mark- 

 ed exactly like those of the former. I 

 know of no egg in which the lilac shell 

 markings, show off to such advantage 

 as those of the above species. 



The spots are more numerous about 

 the larger end. From eight to twelve 

 eggs, is the usual complement. 



My experience with the Virginia, as my 

 note books show, has been that they do 

 not lay regularly every day, while the 

 Sora does her work promptly every day. 

 Whether this is true in other localities or 

 not I cannot say. 



