Nov. 1887.] 



AKD OOLOGIST. 



169 



the American Bittern in Osyvego 

 Co., N. Y. / 



bt\c. c. maxfield, willard, n. y. 



The Bitteim (Botaurus iMttiginosus) , is as far 

 as my observatious go, nik a very abundant in- 

 habitant of Oswego ebunty, although found 

 under favorablX eonflitions in most of the 

 swamps of the ctflitfty, but rather hard to find. 

 Several have beejAaken in a swamp three or 

 four miles dire/tly \orth of Phcenix. This 

 place is not mfcre than^Jialf a swamp, but is 

 composed of extremely\swampy woods, and 

 also mani/acres of meadW that is annually 

 overruiyWith water, someVf which remains 

 the whfele year. There is aSsmall creek run- 

 ninWhrough it. 



/secured a fine specimen, ^male, in the 

 Ji-ing of 188,0, in a very small svvfele, which is 

 Completely dried up in the sumilker months. 



( eggs, all 



jil's nest was found, containing ta 

 slightly incubated ; no fresh ones./^ 



The Bittern usually rests in M(^e marsh, ad- 

 jacent to a\tream of wateryJr swamp. Nest 

 composed of di«$^ and green^ass in about equal 

 proportions. K^is ij^ged above the surface 

 of the ground froflK|K: to eight inches and 

 completely covefed^^'^iMvith dead, dry grass, 

 only leaving an ^ning iK^ne side for the en- 

 trance of the bM. 



The nests Jbund In this vicinHy, for the find- 

 ing of whijjfi we are indebted to Bsnj. F. Hess, 

 have onj/eontained two and three eWs, all of 

 whicJyPere fresh, showing a possibili^Sif the 

 it being full ones, 

 le eggs are of a light creamy, brown colo>« 

 fd vary somewhat, but the average with us is 

 .10x1.63. 



My Experience with the Breeding of 

 the White-breasted Nuthatch. 



BY HAEKY K. JAMISON, MANAYUNK, PIIII.A., PA. 



Looking over the results of my season's col- 

 lecting, I find that I prize my set of White- 

 breasted Nuthatch's {8Uta carolinensis) eggs 

 above any other set taken. It was only after a 

 long period of patient watching that they were 

 finally secured and for that reason they are 

 valued highly. 



On April 3rd I noticed a pair of these birds 

 in an open woods, and knowing that it would 

 soon be time for them to nest, I sat down to 

 watch them. In a short time one of them en- 

 tered a knot-hole in the trunk of a maple tree, 

 fifty feet from the ground. During the next 

 half-hour both birds entered this hole several 

 times and brought out bits of decayed wood, 

 which were either placed in a fork just below 

 the entrance to the hole or taken ott' some dis- 

 tance into the woods. A week later I watched 

 this tree three hours and during the balance of 

 the month visited it several times, but did not 

 see a bird near it again, so I did not consider it 

 necessary to climb up and examine the cavity. 



On the 17th of April I saw one of the birds, 

 probably of the same pair, about two hundred 

 yards from where I had seen them first; it kept 

 in the tops of the tall trees, continually utter- 

 ing its notes. Not having the time to spare I 

 sent a friend to follow the pair. On the 20th of 

 April he saw but one bird and watched it three 

 or four hours. Twice, at an interval of half an 

 hour, he saw it enter a knot-hole in a limb of a 

 chestnut tree, sixty feet up. I spent three 



