a 
THE BIRDS KNOWN TO BREED WITHIN FIFTY MILES 
OF NEW YORK CITY. 
1. (6.)* Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps). Local status: Chiefly 
a migrant, sometimes wintering and probably breeding rarely. Eggs: 6-10, 
soiled whitish. Date: No definite record. Group, Hall No. 208. 
2. (58.) Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla). Local status: An uncommon 
migrant and rare summer resident, nesting now, if at all, in a few localities on 
Great South Bay. Site: Salt marshes. Eggs: 3-5, grayish olive-brown or 
greenish gray, spotted, blotched and scrawled with chocolate. Date: June 8. 
Group, Hall No. 208. 
3. (7o.) Common Tern; Sea Swallow; Mackerel Guil (Sterna hirundo). 
Local status: Formerly an abundant summer resident, but since its destruction 
by milliners a comparatively uncommon migrant. It is doubtful if it nests 
nearer than Gardiner’s Island. Site: Beaches and sometimes adjoining up- 
lands. Eggs: 2-3, very variable, usually olive-gray or olive-green marked with 
chocolate. Date: May 8. Group, Hall No. 308. 
4. (133-) Black Duck (Anas obscura). Local status: A common migrant 
and winter visitant; not known“to nest nearer than Gardiner’s Island. Site: 
On the ground, in undergrowth or heavy grasses, not necessarily in the imme- 
diate vicinity of water. Eggs: 8-12, pale greenish or bluish white or creamy. 
Date: May 5. Group, Hall No. 208. 
5. (144.) Wood Duck (Aix sponsa). Local status: A not uncommon 
migrant; rare and local in the summer. Site: A hollow in a tree, usually 
twenty feet or more from the ground. Eggs: 8-14, pale buffy white. Date: 
May 6. 
6. (190.) Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus). Local status: Not uncommon 
migrant; rare summer resident. Site: On the ground in grassy marshes. 
Eggs: 3-5, pale olive-buff. Date: May tro. 
7- (101.) Least Bittern (Ardetta exilis). Local status: Rather rare and 
local summer resident, more common and generelly distributed during migra- 
tions. Site: Reedy marshes, usually 2-4 feet above water. Eggs: 4-6, bluish 
white. Date: May 31. 
8. (201.) Little Green Heron (Butorides virescens). Local status: Com- 
mon summer resident. Site: Bushes or trees from 5—20 feet from the ground. 
Eegs: 4-5, pale, dull blue. Date: May 6. 
9. (202.) Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nvcticorax nevius). 
Local status: Locally abundant summer resident, nesting in colonies. Site: 
In trees 20-80 feet from the ground. Eggs: 4-6, pale, dull blue. Date: May t. 
to. (208.) King Rail (Rallus elegans). Local status: Rare summer resident. 
Site: On the ground in grassy fresh-water marshes. Eggs: 7-12, buffy white, 
heavily spotted and speckled with rufous-brown. Date: May 15. 
11. (211.) Clapper Rail; Mud Hen (Rallus crepitans). Local status: 
* The numbers between parentheses refer to the Check-List of North American 
Birds of the American Ornithologists Union. 
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