August, 1882.] 
AND OOLOGIST. 
147 
think of no other combination so fitly to 
represent the notes—“ pseur-pseur-per-se- 
ser”—and yet the termination is hardly 
represented, which is often a rapidly spok¬ 
en jingle, in a quickly diminishing tone, 
though the first syllables are very slowly 
and distinctly rendered. The ordinary 
“chip” of the bird bears some resemblance 
to that of the Hooded Warbler, being 
equally clear and sharp, but rather louder 
and deeper in tone. The birds come early, 
and from the places they affect would not 
be observed, unless they commenced sing¬ 
ing. My earliest record of hearing their 
song is April 19th, 1880, but my friend 
Harry Flint shot one of the birds Feb. 
15th, 1882, though he heard no song from 
it. It is amusing to see the bird deliver¬ 
ing his song. He throws back his head, 
and exerts himself violently to give force 
to his notes, taking a few steps along his 
perch and balancing himself vigorously 
between every deliverance. I have taken 
sets of their eggs with spots very dimin u- 
tive and thinly scattered, but still enough 
gathered together to form a ring. I have 
taken sets also where the markings w'ere so 
numerous as almost to conceal the ground 
color of the eggs, as comjfietely spotted 
over as a Skylark’s, though of a different 
tint. Another set has very dark mark¬ 
ings. almost black, less numerous, but 
averaging larger and more distinct, espec¬ 
ially in the ring at the large end, measur¬ 
ing about the same—84x63. They are 
usually a little pointed at the small end. 
Mr. H. B. Bailey has given me the fol¬ 
lowing description of a nest and set which 
I sent him in 1880. He says: “They are 
hard eggs to describe, unlike anything else 
I have, and description fails to do them 
justice. Eggs glossy, white ground, spot¬ 
ted all over with brownish spots and 
blushes and a few hair-like lines, with a 
few under shell markings of pur 2 :)le. 
measuring 76x62, 74x60, 74x60, 75x61, 
74x60. Nest outwardly of dried leaves, 
moss and grass lined with finer grass, and 
red moss seed fronds. I found the nest of 
Ncevins lined with these same red things 
in Maine, and take them to be some part 
of moss.”— J. A7 Clark, Old Sayhrook. Ct. 
Great Blue Heronry. — I went to a her¬ 
onry near here and took one hundred and 
three eggs (twenty-five sets) of the Great 
Blue Heron. They ranged from tw’o to six 
in each set. Audubon says the Great 
Blxte Heron lays three eggs, and Cones in 
Birds of the N. W. says: “Two or three 
eggs are laid, jxrobably never more.” I 
have taken about two hundred and seventy 
eggs of this bird and have always found 
from three to six eggs in a full set. In 
only two cases have I found six, and I 
consider that an unusually large number ; 
but five is very common. In my last ex¬ 
pedition the sets were as follows: nine of 
five eggs, nine of four, three of three, 
three of two, (all fresh), and one of six, 
besides a single egg. — Moryan K. Jiur- 
num, Syracuse, N. Y. 
A Strange Predicament.— Having seen a 
strange bird fly down into some long grass 
I walked iqi to “ flush” it. I found an Or¬ 
chard Oriole, which was so embarrassed 
by the tall, thick grass that he could not 
get free enough play for his wings to fly 
up. Less frightened than might be ex- 
jiected, he made his way along to my com- 
Iianion’s foot, scrambled uji to his knee, 
and then took flight with ease.— H. I). 
Minot, Jioston, 3Iass. 
Cliff Hawk’s Eggs. — An egg, kindly 
brought me from Colorado, is, so far as 
circumstantial evidence can satisfactorily 
determine, a Cliff Hawk’s ( Falco 3[exica- 
n\is'). It measures about 2.20 X 1.60, and 
is of light reddish ground, freckled and 
spotted w’ith medium Vandyke brown.— 
Henry T>. 31inot. 
Blue Birds’ Eggs. — B. W. Everman, 
Bloomington, Indiana, rejiorts taking a set 
of five eggs, Aiiril 2d, from a box made on 
2 iurpose. This is the earliest report for 
small eggs this season. 
