6 



THE SUNNY SOUTH OOr.OGlST. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



While out collecting last season I 

 found a nest of the Cardinal Grosbeak 

 containing two fresh eggs, and a young 

 bird fully fledged. When I approached 

 the nest the bird jumped from it to the 

 ground. 



Phil Schayarz, Gainesville, Texas. 



While on a collecting tour last spring 

 I found a nest of the Mocking Bird con- 

 taining five eggs of the "Mocker," and 

 four of the Lark Finch, all fresh. How 

 is this for an omelet? J. H. B. 



Can you tell me what kind of a bird it 

 is that flies around my orchard ? It re- 

 sembles the Mocking Bird very mucli, 

 only is smaller. I have had three 

 canaries killed by it in the past month ; 

 the bird was very bold, and came on the 

 inside of the house to kill the last, 



Mrs. L. C. H. 



I think it is the white-rumped Shrike 

 you speak of, for I have before heard of 

 their killing canaries in this neighbor- 

 hood. 



Will you please tell me the name of 

 the eggs I found last season ? The nest 

 was p aced in the top of a peach ti ee and 

 constructed of green srass well woven 

 together and lined with cotton ; it con- 

 tained five eggs of a greenish-white color, 

 streaked and spotted with brown and 

 black. 



James L. Long, McKinney, Texas. 



Erom your description they must have 

 been the eggs of the Orchard Oriole. 



July 12ih, 1885. — About a week ago 

 I made a visit to ''Crane Island" in Lake 

 Minnetonka, and found the trees on one 

 part of the island "loaded" with great 

 Blue Heron's nests, and the other part 

 with some species of Cormorant; but as 

 it was very late in the season no eggs 

 could be obtained. Turkey Buzzards, 

 Cranes and Pelicans also breed there 

 sparingly, "You bet" I won't fail to be 

 on hand next season and ''rake in" the 

 eggs. There is an island near this called 



"Eagle Island," where a pair of Bald 

 Eagles have nested for more than ten 

 years. Three days ago while passing 

 this island in a boat I saw the female sit- 

 ting on the nest, and I think this is the 

 second brood for this year, for 'about a 

 week since a boy killed a young one on 

 the island. If all is well, Burch Moffett 

 and myself wdll go over to morrow to 

 determine for ourselves. 



Geo. G. Cantwell, 



Minneapolis, Minn. 



■^ o »■ 



[For the Sunny South Oologist,] 



THE AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. 



(Astragalinus tristis.) 



This bird is one of the commonest in most 

 parts of the country, and is familiar to every 

 one. In various sections tlie names "wild 

 canary," "thistle bird," etc., are applied to 

 it. In color this species is a bright golden- 

 yellow, except the shoulders and head, which 

 are black. In winter it is so changed in color 

 as to be almost another bird, being brown and 

 black, and altogether a very sober looking 

 bird. This bird remains in most of the 

 northern states all winter, flying about the 

 cities in flocks of three or four dozen, living 

 mostly on the seeds of ditierent small shrubs 

 and weeds. It is a very late breeder, very 

 seldom beginning to build before the first of 

 July. During that month the nest is made, 

 eggs are deposited, and generally the young 

 are hatched; sometimes they are very late, 

 as in 1885, one nest w^as found on the 27tli 

 of August, containing four fresh eggs. The 

 eggs are a pure white when laid, but in being 

 incubated or blown, become a beautiful light 

 blue which will not fade. They are from 

 four to seven in number; usually five. If a 

 nest and a set of birds are taken, the hi ds 

 almost always build another in the same 

 place, and another set is deposited, generally 

 containing four eggs. The nest is composed 

 of the outside covering of the last years' 

 thistles, and carefully and thickly lined with 

 the soft down of the same; it measures about 

 three inches by two and one-half outside, 

 and two by one and one-half inches inside. 

 It is placed in a tall thistle or small bush 

 from three to fifteen feet from the ground, 



