two eggs, more than I ever took in any two 
seasons combined. 
They arrive amongst us here about the 20th 
ot April, commencing to lay early in May, as I 
have found sets of them on May 10th, and fresh 
eggs as late as July 7th, leaving little doubt in 
my mind but that they rear two broods during 
the season. I have never heard them sing, and 
if they do it must be at rare intervals. The 
only note I have ever heard is chuck , chuck. 
Three eggs as a general thing is their us ’ 
number with us, and now and then sets of fo«. . 
They seem to prefer pine saplings to all other 
places, but you will find them in oaks, myrtle, 
bay and blackberry vines, at varying heights 
from two to six feet from the ground. The 
nests are very compact, and always composed 
of the same material. All eggs that I have 
ever found before were pale blue, fading some- 
what after being blown, all but the set, referred 
to ahove, found this season ; which scores an- 
other noint, and a remarkable one, for 1887. 
O.&Q. XII. Sept. 1887 p Jf} -/J'Y 
Spotted Eggs of the Blue Grosbeak. 
BY T. D. PERRY, SAVANNAH, GA. 
This retired but beautiful species ( Guiraca 
cmrulia) has been written upon so often that it 
seems like trespassing upon the brother readers 
of the O. and O. by afflicting them with it 
again, but the past season of 1887 has been 
one of successful events with me, and one 
in which so many new phases of bird life have 
been discovered, that I cannot refrain from 
The Whippoorwill at Raleigh, N; C. 
BY C. S. BRIMLEY. 
. few particulars concerning our pa^t year’s 
experience with this bird may be of sfime inter- 
est tl» some of the readers of the 0. and O., 
and as\an introduction I will first' give a few 
data concerning the species : 
The Whippoorwill arrives heref about the 18th 
of April with tolerable uniformity, and from 
that time tilr\the end of May its notes may bej 
nightly heard'hy all who are near enough to: 
its favorite hauiks. From dune on it is seldom 
heard and I cannot give the time of its leaving 
us but we have on ope occasion taken it as late 
as October 10th. Whife here it seems to fre- 
quent the higher and 1 ’ dryer woods, and : 
only in such localities \here is any chance ... 
finding it. This yeAr it Was first observed on 
April 18th ; five days afterwards I was follow- 
ing some Towhees in a strip, of woods on a 
rocky ridge running north, when a bird that at 
first I took to/be an unusually -large Towhee 
flew up almost from under my i^et. I soon, 
however, recognized him as a Whippoorwill, 
and seeing him settle within easy shot I 
straightway collected him. 
On May 5th my brother was collectr 
patch of woods on the same ridge, whenNa pair 
of Whippoorwills flew up almost from i\pder| 
his ffeet ; he immediately collected one and 
stq/ted to look for eggs. His search was sdpn| 
crowned with success, for within a few feet 
Nesting of the Blue Grosbeak in 1888 
and 1889 at Raleigh, N. C. 
1888. May 18tli. Found a nest just fin- 
ished, five feet high in a pine. On May 22d it 
had two eggs in it, and on May 24tli the eggs 
were gone. This is the only instance of this 
bird building in a pine that lias come un- 
der my personal observation. 
June 2d. Found another nest three feet 
high in alders, alongside of a lane, and on 
June 8th I took a set of three fresh eggs. The 
bottom and outside of the nest were composed 
of weed stems, dead leaves, pine straw and 
paper, inside of fine grass and lined with 
horsehair — the nest being placed in an alder 
fork, the sides of the nest were attached to 
the fork by cobwebs, the whole being quite a 
compact structure. This description will do 
for the majority of nests found here, although 
the bird often uses cotton as well in building 
her n est. 
1880. June 3. Took a set of three eggs (after 
leaving them for three days) from a nest simi- 
lar to above, placed in a sweet gum fork five 
and a half feet high. The nest contained 
some cotton. 
June 10. Took a slightly incubated set of 
four from a nest in a mulberry fork four feet 
high. Bird on nest. 
June 12. My brother took a slightly incu- 
bated set of four from a nest five feet high in 
a sweet gum sapling. This nest was a loose 
structure much like a Chat’s, but was attached 
to the fork with cobwebs, which a Chat’s 
never is; some snakeskin gave tone to the ar- 
chitecture of this nest. 
June 20. Took a set of three from a nest 
four and a half feet high in a mulberry fork. 
This nest was of the usual compact type, but 
had a good deal of snakeskin in the bottom of 
the nest. 
June 20. A colored man brought us a set of 
three and nest of this bird, which he said had 
been built in a grape vine in a neighboring vine- 
yard. The young Grosbeaks had already 
chipped the eggs in their efforts to enjoy the 
free air of heaven, and this detracted from 
their usefulness. The nest was rather a small 
one very largely composed of roots, but had 
the unmistakable Blue Grosbeak look about it. 
The Blue Grosbeak usually builds in an iso- 
lated bush or sapling, and the nest seems to be 
I always under six feet in height. The set of 
I eggs is three or four in this locality, and ap- 
parently the smaller number is as frequent as 
the larger. C. S. Brimley. 
Raleigh, N. C. 
p r & O. XV. Feb. 1390 p.JJ 
