Oct. 1886.] 



AND 00 



157 



moss, entirely concealing the sticks used in build- 

 ing. Eggs taken out of nest with small bag tied 

 to the end of my fishing pole. Both birds show- 

 ing fight." I did not wonder at the kites showing 

 when I tried to blow the egg, as incubation was 

 so far advanced that the young birds were nearly 

 dry in the egg. They would have hatched in the 

 next three days. I drilled a one-eighth inch bole 

 in the eggs, and putting them in a box, hole 

 downwards, I set the box on a bed of the "Texas 

 Cutting Ant" and they finished the cleaning pro- 

 cess during the next twenty-four hours. I have 

 saved many sets of eggs of hawks and owls in 

 this manner. 



The set, as is usual, contained two eggs, meas- 

 uring 1.85x1.47 and 1.79x1.43. Ground color 

 was dirty white (probably stained,) and irregular- 

 ly marked with spots and blotches of dull brown 

 —in tlie smaller egg tending to form a ring 

 around the smaller end. I have beard of a set of 

 three being taken in the Colorado River bottoms, 

 but can get no particulars. 1 have a record of 

 thirteen nests having been found containing eggs 

 or young, and in only one instance — a nest with 

 three young — was there more than two eggs oi- 

 young in the nest. Can it be that Audubon de- 

 pended upon hearsay in stating that four to six 

 was the number ol eggs in a set ? Very often the 

 boys whom I employ to collect tell me that they 

 have found nests of the Red-bellied Hawk with 

 four or five eggs ; those of the Turkey Buzzard 

 with three to four eggs; and Swallow-tailed 

 Kile with five eggs ; but I notice when I require 

 them to authenticate the sets taken for me, those 

 large sets fail to appear. I have been making in 

 quiries in other portions of the State about this 

 species, and in a letter lately received from Mr. 

 E. T. Dumble, Secretary of the Texas State Geo- 

 logical and Scientific Society, he says : " The 

 Swallow-tailed Kite arrives here early in the 

 spring, leaving late in the fall. M nest has been 

 observed with more than two eggs:' Tlie italics are 

 mine. 



The Swallow-tailed Kite is an abundant sum- 

 mer resident in Mr. Dumble's locality, Houston, 

 Texas, and everywhere else along the timbered 

 portions of the coast country, consequently lie 

 can be accepted as an authority. 



I have made arrangements with collectors in 

 three counties to collect the eggs of this Kite, and 

 we will see what another year will bring forth. 



[The above paper is of far more than ordinary 

 interest and value. It gives the experiences of a 

 practical collector who has given much time and 

 thought to the subject, and who speaks from his 

 own experience. 



ere taken in this county the present 

 r. S. B. Ladd, of West Chester, and 

 his cabinet. The set of four has a 

 glossy ground thickly spotted with a 

 brown, so profusely laid on as to al- 

 . the white. They are very large, 

 liar shape, being nearly of the same 

 1 ends. They measure .58x.73 ; .59x 

 1: .80X.71. The set of five are con- 

 mailer— giving the following dimen- 

 .66; .55X.67; .53x 68; .53x.67; .53x.67. 

 exquisitely marked— the greater end 

 ickly covered with a rich brown as to 

 reath, and the coloring also extends to 

 ■end with Nesting of the Worm-Eating War- 

 ley exceed blernear Leighton, Ala. 



. ever saw, / / _ 



;ed hillsid( c)n the 29th of April this year I was forUi- 

 heretofori n^te enough to find a nest of the above species 

 e foregoit containing five fresh eggs, and seeing but little 

 together ^ Jn our oiilogical papers ooueeniiiig the nest- 

 QOtice, wl i„j,. „f this Wa.Y\>\&i- (IlelmWierus vermivnrvs) 

 labitsoftl 1 thought an account of it would bo interest- 



ays nesti 

 Iside, in tli 

 ream of w 

 e a desiral 



nest is i 

 ilks of the 



usual nest 



tlio last 1 

 usual ncsi 

 read; "the 

 It sliouJ 

 ments of 

 every iiisfc 



g to the readers of the O. & O. 

 I was on La Grange mountain looking for 

 'sts of the Black and Turkey Vultures, and | 

 i\ ing walked along the Muff some two miles 

 IS becoming rather discouraged at finding 

 itliing, when happening to glance down 1 saw a 

 lall bird running along the ground with its 

 ugs outspread as if wounded. 1 knew at a 

 0»jSe glance that it had n nest, and therefore com- 

 ' mciiced looking for it; and sooniiiigly examined 

 tie on '''"''■■^ ''"I' y''i'"l« M-onm\ but no It , 



'.„„,,,„■« "I'st ,Id I lin.l. .So 1 walked off a short dis- 



iDO.iLc tauce and sat down, determined to wait until 



tlie ])i nl returned. In a few minutes its distant -S-f^ 

 rlUii. rlilj), was beard, and soon both birds 

 wore seen anxiously fiitting from tree to tree ^."^ 

 and by degrees coming nearer. I sat very still 

 and watched their every movement for some 

 half hour or so, as it was about that length of 

 time before the bird summoned up sufficient 

 courage to alight on her nest. I walked 

 quickly to the spot and there was the nest 

 deeply imbedded in the dead leaves with which 

 the ground was covered. 



It was at the foot of a small bush on the hill- 

 sides and could only be seen through one 

 small opening from below. It was composed 

 chiefly of dead leaves lined with fine grasses, 

 and contained five fresh eggs thickly marked 

 over the entire surface, but more heavily on 

 the larger end, with two shades of brownish- 

 red and obscure lilac on a pure white ground. 



The Worm-eating Warbler is a very rare 

 breeder in this locality, and indeed the above 

 pair are the only ones I have seen here in the 

 spring. Last year the fall migration of this 

 species here was as follows : First one, a $ 

 peared in the swamp ,luly 19th; next one seen 

 on August 5th, a gradual inci'easo from this 

 date until the lOtli ; from 10th to ]5th, height of 

 season, decreasing in numbers from this date; 

 last one seen on .September 9th. F. W. M. 



