A 
BIRDS’ NESTS AND EGGS. 
WITH AN ANNOTATED LIST OF THE BIRDS KNOWN TO BREED 
WITHIN FIFTY MILES OF NEW YORK CITY. 
By Frank M. CHAPMAN, 
Associate Curator, Department of Mammalogy and Ornithology. 
CONTENTS. 
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BIRDS’ NESTS. 
(See the groups in Halls No. 204, 208, 304, 305 and 308, and the desk-cases in 
Halls No. 208 and 303.) 
Nesting Season. — The first bird to nest in the region within 
fifty miles of New York City is the Great Horned 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 No. 204), Woodcock (Group, Hall No. 208), Screech 
Owl (Group, Hall No. 208), Red-shouldered Hawk (Group, Hall 
No. 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 
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