Feb. 1883.] 
AND OOLOGIST. 
11 
were found near streams. The most of 
these nests were in low Cedars, but two 
were in tangled grapevines ; one in an alder 
directly over a small stream, about four 
,iau uetm putting iortn new bushes 
from five to fifteen feet high/ in these I 
'found at least thirty good nests. 
'American Redstart, (mtophaga ruticil- 
la,) also nested quite/plentifully here last 
seasom. One of tlje loveliest nests I took 
in May,\£>81, with a set of four eggs; it 
was built in An oak sapling, at a height 
level with theseyes ; it separated into three 
equal branches, Nhe nest cavity in the cen- 
tre. One might stand a foot distant and 
see /nothing but a\ swelling, seemingly 
caused by the branches : so neat, compact 
vival ” of his “ fitter ” brothers. I know of 
no eggs that show as much variation in size 
and markings as the eggs of the “Red- 
bird.” I have a set of three, two of which 
are so thickly marked with lilac, slate and 
brown as to cover almost entirely the 
ground ; the third is grayish white, simply 
flecked with spots of reddish brown and 
very bright lilac ; others are marked with 
light reddish and faint lilac, exactly like 
those of the Tufted Titmouse, and these 
are generally the smallest eggs I have no- 
ticed, while the larger have darker mark- 
ings. Others still, look just like White- 
rumped Shrikes’ eggs, and I have one set 
which can scarcely be distinguished from 
some Cowbirds’ eggs. The strength of this 
bird’s bill is remarkable. They can easily 
crush a grain of the hardest of yellow corn, 
and this is no small job even for a good 
set of teeth. This grain is a favorite food 
with them, but when they can get it readily 
they only bite out the germ. The females 
of this' species sing almost as much as the 
males, though their song is not so rich or 
as loud as that of the male. If the song of 
any bird could be tiresome or monotonous 
to me, I think it would be this one. It is 
an endless repetition of two whistles like 
“ White-Oak,” repeated six or seven times, 
and then the same two whistles reversed 
in order, as “ Oak- White ” repeated about 
the same number of times. This is all of it, 
but it is such a rich, clear, flute-like tone, 
that it would more than make up for even 
a greater lack of variety than there is. This 
song is the favorite one of the Mocking 
Bird, and is repeated by it hour after hour. 
The Redbird has also other notes, which 
it uses very sparingly, however. It is a 
soft warble, and can only be heard when 
very near the bird. But this is far 
sweeter to me than its louder song. The 
sharp “chink” is easily imitated and I have 
called them with it uj) to almost arm’s 
length, by keeping perfectly still, but at 
the first wink 'they were off . — Edgar A. 
Small, Hagerstown, Md. 
O. AO. VIII. Feb. 1S1?3 p ./<?-//. 
