BIRDS' XESTS AXD EGGS. 



WITH AX AXXOTATED LIST OF THE BIRDS KXOWX TO BREED 

 WITHIX FIFTY MILES OF XEW YORK CITY. 



Bv Fra.nk ^L Chapman, 

 Associate Curator. Department of ^lammalogy and Ornithology'. 



CONTENTS. 



Birds' Xests 5 



Nesting Season 5 



\esting Site 6 



The Xest Itself 7 



Variations in Nesting Habits 8 



Second Broods 8 



Return to same Nesting Site 9 



Birds' Eggs ii 



Number of Eggs in a Set or "Clutch " ii 



Size of Eggs II 



The Shell 12 



Colors of Eggs 12 



Shape of Eggs 12 



Individual Variations 12 



AxNOTATED List 15 



BIRDS' XESTS. 



(See the groups in Halls No. 204, 208. 304. 305 and 308, and the desk-cases in 



Halls No. 208 and 303.) 



Xesti)ig Season. — The first bird to nest in the region ^vithin 

 fifty miles of Xe^v York City is the Great Homed Owl. The eggs 

 of this locally rare species have been found as early as February 

 28, a date when the ground may be covered with snow and the nest 

 itself decorated with icicles. This Owl is followed early in March 

 by the more common Barred Owl, then come the Duck Hawk 

 (Group, Hall Xo. 204), Woodcock (Group, Hall Xo. 208). Screech 

 Owl (Group, Hall X'o. 208), Red-shouldered Hawk (Group, Hall 

 Xo. 204), Red-tailed Hawk and so on through the list of our 120 

 breeding birds until we reach the Goldfinch and Cedar Waxwing 

 which do not begin housekeeping until the middle of June. 



Year after year essentially the same order of nesting is ob- 

 served and the question may well be asked. What cause or causes 

 determine the time of a bird's nesting season? Primarily, it may 

 be replied, the date when a bird breeds is governed by the char- 

 acter of the food of its young. Young birds, particularly those 



5 



