. Nests and eggs of North American birds. Birds; Birds. NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 459 and its favorite haunts are meadows in the vicinity of water, villages and old houses. It nests on the ground among the grass of the meadows, in crevices of rocks or old buildings; in the roots of trees along the banks of streams; under bridges. The nests are constructed of small stems, twigs, grass, straws, leaves and rootlets, the lining being of wool and hair. The eggs are four, five, six or even seven in number. A set of six eggs in my cabinet, taken May 10, 1880, in Staffordshire, England, have a grayish-whi
. Nests and eggs of North American birds. Birds; Birds. NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 459 and its favorite haunts are meadows in the vicinity of water, villages and old houses. It nests on the ground among the grass of the meadows, in crevices of rocks or old buildings; in the roots of trees along the banks of streams; under bridges. The nests are constructed of small stems, twigs, grass, straws, leaves and rootlets, the lining being of wool and hair. The eggs are four, five, six or even seven in number. A set of six eggs in my cabinet, taken May 10, 1880, in Staffordshire, England, have a grayish-white ground-color, and are speckled all over the surface with minute ash- gray specks. Several single specimens have markings that are of a decided dark brown color. The set of six measure: ., ., ., ., ., . The average size is . inches. [695.] SWINHOE'S WAGTAIL. Montacilla ocularis Swinh. Geog. Dist.— Eastern Asia. Accidental in Lower California and Aleutian Islands. Mr. Nelson says: "Although this bird has been taken repeatedly at Plover Bay, Siberia, and thence throughout a large portion of Northeastern Asia, including China and Formosa, to the Lake Baikal region, it appears to be almost unknown in Alaska. In fact its claim as a bird of the territory rests upon the capture of a single specimen, a young bird in summer plumage, by Captain Kellett and Lieutenant Wood in "Northwest America," as recorded in the Brit. Mus. Cat. Birds, X, 473. The Wagtail seen by Mr. Turner on Attu Island, on the western extreme of the Aleutian chain, may possibly have been of this species, but it is far more probable that it was the M. lugens which Dr. Stejneger found common upon the Commander Islands. A single specimen of ocularis was taken by Mr. Belding at La Pai, Lower California, during the winter of 1881-82. It is scarcely necessary to add that its occurrence at this point, so far from its home, is entirely accidental. The western limi
Size: 2096px × 1192px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthordavi, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds
