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THE SUNNY SOUTH OOLOGIST. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Anyone desiring questions answered relating 

 to Birds, their Nests and Eggs, will favor us by 

 sending them in, and we will answer them 

 through this column to the best of our ability. 



On the 28th of xMareh, 1885, 1 found 

 a nest of the Red-shouldered Hawk, 

 containing two eggs, which I took. 

 Returning seven days later, and see- 

 ing the bird flj from the nest, I con- 

 cluded to take another look at it, and 

 was very much surprised to find two 

 more eggs, although the shells were 

 much lighter marked than those taken 

 previously, which went to prove they 

 were deposited by the same bird. 



J. H. B., Oswego, Kansas. 



Last summer, while out collecting, 

 I found a three -storied nest of the 

 Summer Yellow bird. Each story 

 contained one egg of the Cow bird, 

 and two of the Warblers. I also 

 found a double nest of the Bronzed 

 Grrackle containing nine eggs; four in 

 the lower part, and five in the upper. 

 The total number of eggs from both 

 nests were eighteen. Don't j^ou think 

 this a pretty good haul from two 

 nests ? W. A. W. 



Quincy, Ill's. 



I like the appearance of your paper 

 very much, and trust it will be a 

 financial success. 



D. H. Eaton, 



Woburn, Mass. 



It is said that alligators' eggs are 

 esteemed by the natives of the regions 

 where those reptiles abound. Mr. 

 Joseph, in his "History of Trinidad," 

 says that he found the eggs of the 

 cayman very good. The female alli- 

 gator lays from 120 to 160 eggs. 

 They are about as large as the eggs 

 of a turkey, and have a rough shell 

 filled with a thick albumen. 



Blue-fronted Jay. 



(CYANOCITTA STELLERI FRONTALIS.) 



There is an eagles nest on the stump 

 of an old tree in the middle of Caddo 

 lake, near Jeflferson, Texas, and a pair 

 of eagles have occupied this as their 

 home for more than twenty vears. 



One would, with a general knowl- 

 edge of the nesting habits of the Jays, 

 look for their nests in trees and bush- 

 es ; but with the recent observations 

 on the habits of this bird, by N. S. 

 Goss, in the Auk, April, 1885, we 

 have additional light thrown upon the 

 subject. He found quite a number of 

 nests of the Blue-fronted Jay in the 

 vicinity of Julian, California, in the 

 spring of 1884, and "in all cases but 

 one, in holes and trough-like cavities 

 in trees and stubs, ranging from four 

 to fifty feet from the ground, gener- 

 ally ten to twenty feet. The nest 

 found outside was built upon a large 

 horizontal limb of an oak close beside 

 a gnarl, the sprout-like limbs of which 

 thickly covered the nest overhead, and 

 almost hid it from view below." They 

 were quite bulky, loosely made of 

 sticks, stems of weeds, and lined with 

 fibrous rootlets and grasses ; and, as 

 they were all built at' or near the 

 opening, the tell-tale sticks projected 

 and made the finding of the nests 

 not difficult. Mr. Goss gives the 

 color of the eggs n s light blue, speckled 

 and spotted with dark brown, rather 

 thickest at large end, and the meas- 

 urements of two sets, as follows : One 

 taken May 19, 1.20 by .87, 1 .20 bv .88. 

 1.21 by 88 ; May 21, 1.22 by .88, 1.15 

 by .86, 1.19 by .86, 1.16 by .85. 



Mr. W. 0. Emerson informs me that 

 he finds the nests in the vicinit}^ of 

 Haywards, Cal., placed in oaks, red- 

 wood and other tall trees. 



The above interesting article is an 

 extract from Davies Neqjo Key to the 

 Nests and Eggs of North American 

 Birds, taken from specimen leaves sent 

 me, and of which is a fair sample of 

 descriptions of the nests and eggs of 

 each bird contained in that book. — 

 Editor. 



