Curious Nesting Places. — In tlie Spring 

 of 1878, I found a E^bifl^s nest on a rock 

 and level with the ground. There was 

 scarcely any attempt at a nest, simply a 

 few weeds around the edge, and the eggs 

 laid on the bare rock. Still, the bird was 

 as noisy at my presence, as if she were 

 defending a much more elaborate struc- 

 ture. 



Last year a Kobin's nest containing eggs was brought to 

 , me by one of mj^cousins. He found it in his hop yard, in //, ^ 



a slight depression of the ground and about a foot from a K-ov. ^^^^ 

 j hop pole. This spring my attention was called to another 



Robin's nest, with eggs, on the ground at the foot of a 



small apple tree. I have heard of two others on the ground 



this year, but did not see them.— 2>. D. Stone. 



A 



jwe passed tlie town of Waconia I noticed a 

 jfemale Robin sitting on tlie nest built on a 

 I protruding stick of a wood«i3ile, but tins Is no 

 I inore odd than their building under the eaves 

 I of a house and on the top of a snxall stump, 

 j having seen nests in both situations. / 



&i-(P. Joy. (Pt^iin. /^./dZl. 



I l"l7f"gljackover,„y varied experiences 

 afield I fan to recall one which gave me more 

 real pleasure than the one short hour whose 

 pruieipal occurrences I have tried to outline 

 above. 



While travelling through Iowa this spring I 

 several times found nests of the Robiji (Mfrnla 

 nnuraioria) placed on top of the oil box of i, eight 

 cars. They were placed between the wheel and 

 the equalizer. At the same time 1 also found 

 several placed on the floor timbers of the car 

 These nests contained eggs in some instances' 

 Most of the cars had been side tracked for 

 some time and to this fact, as well as to the 

 scarcity of trees in that country, I attributed 

 the choice of so unusual a nesting place. 



Geo. X. Toppnn. 



o.&o. xiv.Nov.iss9 p.ie,. 



Bird«atTwinI.aic«e.Oo..W.D.Seott 



I ^^SZr^:^J^Zr^----- level of the 

 , tawny, and the general JX'vZt °' "''''^^ 



ern States. Youn. fullv fleZd " ' '° '"^ividuals from the East- 



found are ouHou:^ Z T!^:^^^. 

 ! prominent. " '""^ mud walls " were not 



'y^/i^Ce^' x^^-^^c^^^:^ /i^.#-£^>z^>2^, 9%^Oi>C 



CUKIOUS FUEAK OP A EOBIN. — In tlic Spring 

 of 1888, while 1 was building a tool-house, a 

 pair of robins located a site for a nest on one 

 of the girths and had nearly finished it when 

 it was accidentally knocked down, whereupon 

 they immediately began building on the pur- 

 lin plate and continued their work until they 

 had twelve nests under way in all stages of 

 completion, from a mere beginning to the fin- 

 ished nest (three of them being completed), 

 when the female was shot by some boys, which 

 ended their nest building. 



Sarimel Spiner. 



(Goodrich, Mich. 



O.&O. XIV. Mar. 1889 p.43 



lloirsE Wkens Keabed by Kobins.— On June llth, 18S4, 

 I fnimd a Robin^s nest in an Ap^iSTre'e. On gaining tlie nest 

 I saw five little heads sticldng up, the possessors of two of 

 wiiicli were Robins, but the other three, which were not 

 lialf as large as the Robins, I did not recognize. There was 

 also a Robin's egg in the nest. 



I visited it again two days afterwards, when the remaining 

 egg was hatched, malcing six young ones-quite a nest full! 

 By the 18th the three Robins had grown so much that one 

 of the House Wrens (for such they proved to be,) liad died. 

 On the 20.h, I found one of the Wrens had left the nest, and 

 the other was perched on the edge preparatory to leaving. 

 This one I caught and examined closely, making sure that 

 it was a House Wren. Is it common for House Wrens to 

 deposit their eggs in other birds' nests ?—eeo. If. Crater, 



.stmuuon, ni. Oi&O. X.Apr,188o.p, 6,y. 



Birds of O»froll 0»unty, Ind 

 B.Hr.EiT«r«i»mi. 



202. Merula migratoria. American Robin. — One of our commonest 

 and best known suinmei- residents, — leaving so late in the autumn and re- 

 turning so earlj in the spring as to almost appear a permanent resident. 

 Our January or February 'thaw' seldom fails to bring a few back to us. I 

 desire to call attention to a nesting habit of the Robin which is spoken of 

 in the books as "unusual," that is the habit of constructing theirnest upon 

 a rail in the fence. This I have from childhood noticed to be a very com- 

 mon place for the Robin to put its nest. A place near the end of the rail 

 where it is crossed by those of the next panel is usually selected, and gen- 

 erally about the fifth from the ground in an eight-rail fence. I have fre- 

 quently known the same old nest to be repaired and used for two or even 

 three years. 



Auk, VI. Jan., 1889. p. 30 



