Chapter III: Part 3

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=Horned Lark=: _Eremophila alpestris_ (Linnaeus).--Breeding populations are resident in open country with short or cropped vegetation. _E. a. praticola_ (Henshaw) lives in the east, and _E. a. enthymia_ (Oberholser) in the west.

_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-one records of breeding span the period March 11 to June 10 (Fig. 6); the modal date for egg-laying is March 25. The histogram (Fig. 6) is constructed on a clearly inadequate sample, and records of breeding both earlier and later are to be expected. The peak of first nesting activity is probably reasonably well-indicated by the available records.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.6, 3-5; 16).

Nests are placed on the ground, usually amid short vegetation such as cropped prairie grassland or cultivated fields (notably soybeans and wheat), and occasionally on bare ground.

TABLE 14.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT SWALLOWS IN
KANSAS

=Tree Swallow=: _Iridoprocne bicolor_ (Vieillot).--This is a summer resident in extreme northeastern Kansas; nesting birds have been found only along the Missouri River in Doniphan County. Habitat is in open woodland, and in Kansas is always associated with water. Temporal occurrence in the State is indicated in Table 14.

_Breeding schedule._--Eight records of breeding span the period May 21 to June 20; the modal date for egg-laying is May 25. The small sample may not accurately reflect the peak of nesting activity.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 or 6 eggs (5.5, 5-6; 4).

Nests are placed chiefly in abandoned woodpecker diggings in willows, four to ten feet high, over water.

=Bank Swallow=: _Riparia riparia riparia_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident is common wherever cut-banks suitable for nesting activities allow relatively undisturbed behavior. The species is almost always found near water. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 14.

_Breeding schedule._--Sixty records of breeding span the period May 11 to June 20 (Fig. 6); the modal date for completion of clutches is June 5.

Nearly 75 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period May 21 to June 10. Under unusual circumstances time of breeding can be greatly delayed; such circumstances occurred in 1961 in many places along the Kansas River in eastern Kansas, where the soft, sandy-clay banks were repeatedly washed away in May and June by high water undercutting the cliffs. Bank Swallows attempted to work on burrows in late May, but stabilization of the banks occurred only by late June, and the peak of egg-laying for many colonies was around July 12. Records for 1961 are omitted from the sample used here (Fig. 6).

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.8, 3-7; 60). Yearly clutch-size at one colony 3 miles east of Lawrence, Douglas County, is as follows:

1959: 5.2, 19 records
1960: 5.0, 12 records
1961: 3.7, 11 records
1962: 4.8, 18 records

The sample for 1961 is that taken in early July when breeding occurred after a delay of more than a month, as described above.

Nesting chambers are excavated in sandy-clay banks, piles of sand, piles of sawdust, or similar sites, at ends of tunnels one to more than three feet in depth from the vertical face of the substrate.

=Rough-winged Swallow=: _Stelgidopteryx ruficollis serripennis_ (Audubon).--This summer resident is common in most places; it is not restricted to a single habitat, but needs some sort of earthen or other substrate with ready-made burrows for nesting. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 14.

_Breeding schedule._--The 14 records of breeding are in the period May 11 to June 30; the modal date of egg-laying is June 5. Seventy per cent of all eggs are laid in the period May 21 to June 10.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.0, 4-6; 4).

Nesting chambers are in old burrows of Bank Swallows, Kingfishers, rodents, or in crevices remaining subsequent to decomposition of roots of plants; frequently this swallow uses a side chamber off the main tunnel, near the mouth, of a burrow abandoned or still in use by the other species mentioned above.

=Cliff Swallow=: _Petrochelidon pyrrhonota pyrrhonota_ (Vieillot).--This common summer resident occurs wherever suitable sites for nests are found. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 14.

_Breeding schedule._--The 610 records of breeding span the period May 21 to June 30 (Fig. 6); the modal date for egg-laying is June 5, and 85 per cent of all clutches are laid from May 21 to June 10. Such synchronous breeding activity is probably a function of strong coloniality with attendant "social facilitation" of breeding behavior.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.9, 3-7; 7).

Nests are built in mud jugs plastered to vertical rock faces, bridges, culverts, and buildings from a few feet to more than 100 feet above the ground.

=Barn Swallow=: _Hirundo rustica erythrogaster_ Boddaert.--This summer resident is common in most habitats, occurring chiefly about cultivated fields and pastures. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 14.

_Breeding schedule._--Sixty-three records of breeding in northern Kansas span the period May 1 to July 31 (Fig. 6); the modal date for completion of first clutches is May 25, and that for the second is July 5. The schedule of breeding in southern Kansas (chiefly Cowley County), to judge by 41 records, conforms to the one for northern Kansas: the season spans the period May 1 to August 10, and the modal date for first clutches is May 15. The ten-day lag in peak of first clutches of the northern over the southern sample is about what would be expected on the basis of differential inception of the biological growing season from south to north each spring.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size does not vary geographically, to judge only from the present samples, and all are included in the listing to follow. The modal size of clutches is 5 eggs (4.7, 3-7; 43); clutches from the period May 1 to 30 show an average of 5.0 eggs, from June 1 to 20 an average of 4.9 eggs, and from June 21 to August 10, 4.4 eggs.

Nests are usually placed on horizontal surfaces in barns, sheds, or other such structures; more rarely they are put on bridges, and less frequently yet on vertical walls of culverts or sheds.

=Purple Martin=: _Progne subis subis_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident is common in the east but rare in the west. The only documented colony west of the 99th meridian was in Oberlin, Decatur County (Wolfe, 1961), occupied some 50 years ago. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 14.

_Breeding schedule._--The breeding season spans the period May 11 to June 20 (Fig. 6); the modal date of egg-laying is June 5, and 57 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period June 1 to 10.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.2, 3-6; 33). Mean clutch-size is 4.3 eggs in May and 4.2 in June. Adults tend to lay clutches of 5 eggs and first-year birds clutches of 4. Replacement clutches by birds of any age tend to be of 3 eggs.

Nests are built of sticks and mud placed in cavities; in Kansas these are almost always in colony houses erected by man. Use of holes and crevices in old buildings is known to have occurred on the campus of The University of Kansas in the nineteen thirties (W. S. Long, 1936, MS), in Oberlin, Decatur County in 1908-1914 (Wolfe, _loc. cit._), and presently in Ottawa, Franklin County (Hardy, 1961).

=Blue Jay=: _Cyanocitta cristata bromia_ Oberholser.--This resident is common throughout Kansas in woodland habitats. Most first-year birds move south in winter, but adults tend to be strictly permanent residents. Groups of ten to more than 50 individuals can be seen moving south in October and north in April. All individuals taken from such mobile groups are in first-year feather.

_Breeding schedule._--Eighty-three records of breeding span the period April 10 to July 10 (Fig. 7); the modal date of egg-laying is May 15, and about 50 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period May 11-31. _Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-6; 15).

Nests are placed from eight to 70 feet high (averaging 24 feet) in forks, crotches, and on horizontal limbs of elm, maple, osage orange, cottonwood, and ash.

=Black-billed Magpie=: _Pica pica hudsonia_ (Sabine).--This resident is common in western Kansas, along riparian groves and woodland edge. Records of nesting are from as far east as Clay County. Wolfe (1961) outlines the history of magpies in Decatur County as follows: the species was purported to have appeared in rural districts near Oberlin in 1918, but Wolfe saw the birds only by 1921, at which time he also found the first (used) nests. The first reported occupied nest was one in Hamilton County in 1925 (Linsdale, 1926). Earlier records, chiefly of occurrence in winter, can be found in Goss (1891).

_Breeding schedule._--Fourteen records of breeding span the period April 11 to June 20; the modal date for egg-laying is May 15.

_Number of eggs._--There are no data on clutch-size in Kansas; elsewhere Black-billed Magpies lay 3 to 9 eggs, and clutches of 7 are found most frequently (Linsdale, 1937:104).

Nests are placed from 10 to 18 feet high (averaging 13 feet) in forks or lateral masses of branches in cottonwood, box elder, ash, and willow.

=White-necked Raven=: _Corvus cryptoleucus_ Couch.--This summer resident is common in western Kansas, probably occupying locally favorable sites in prairie grassland and woodland edge west of a line from Smith to Seward counties. The species is known to nest in Cheyenne, Sherman, and Finney counties.

_Breeding schedule._--There are few data from Kansas; Aldous (1942) states that the birds begin activities leading to building sometime in April in Oklahoma; the peak of egg-laying probably occurs in May, which coincides with the records from Kansas.

_Number of eggs._--Outside Kansas, this species lays 3 to 7 eggs; these figures seem applicable to Kansas, where brood sizes are known to run from 1 to 7 young.

Nests are placed about 20 feet high in cottonwood and other trees.

=Common Crow=: _Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos_ Brehm.--This resident is common in most of Kansas, but numbers are lower in the west. Distribution in the breeding season is west at least to Cheyenne, Logan, and Meade counties.

_Breeding schedule._--Sixty-nine records of breeding span the period March 10 to May 31 (Fig. 7); the modal date for egg-laying is April 5, and 60 per cent of all eggs are laid between March 21 and April 10.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.2, 3-5; 19).

Nests are placed about 20 feet high in crotches near trunks or heavy branches of such trees as red cedar, elm, oak, osage orange, cottonwood, honey locust, box elder, and pine.

=Black-capped Chickadee=: _Parus atricapillus_ Linnaeus.--This resident is common north of the southernmost tier of counties, in forested and wooded areas. _P. a. atricapillus_ Linnaeus occurs chiefly east of the 98th meridian, and _P. a. septentrionalis_ Harris occurs west of this; a broad zone of intergradation exists between these two subspecies. _Breeding schedule._--Fifty-one records of breeding span the period March 21 to June 10 (Fig. 7); the modal date for laying is April 15, and 64 per cent of all eggs are laid between April 11 and 30.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.4, 4-7; 10).

Nests are placed in cavities about ten feet high (ranging from four to 20 feet) in willow, elm, cottonwood, honey locust, apricot, or nestboxes placed by man.

=Carolina Chickadee=: _Parus carolinensis atricapilloides_ Lunk.--This resident is common in the southernmost tier of counties, from Comanche County east, in forest and woodland edge. Actual records of breeding are from Barber and Montgomery counties.

_Breeding schedule._--There are no data on breeding of this species in Kansas.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs.

Nests are placed in cavities of trees.

=Tufted Titmouse=: _Paras bicolor_ Linnaeus.--This resident is common in the eastern half of Kansas, in woodlands. Specimens taken in the breeding season and nesting records come from east of a line running through Cloud, Harvey, and Sumner counties, and the species probably breeds in Barber County.

_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period March 21 to June 10 (Fig. 7); the modal date for laying is April 25, and 54 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period April 11 to 30.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 to 5 eggs (4.5; 6).

Nests are placed in cavities about 12 feet high (ranging from three to 30 feet) in elm, oak, cottonwood, hackberry, redbud, osage orange, and nestboxes placed by man.

=White-breasted Nuthatch=: _Sitta carolinensis_ Latham.--This resident in eastern Kansas, in well-developed woodland, is uncommon. _S. c. cookei_ Oberholser occurs east of a line running through Douglas and Cherokee counties, on the basis of specimens taken in the breeding season and actual nesting records, and _S. c. carolinensis_ Latham occurs in Montgomery and Labette counties. _S. c. nelsoni_ Mearns has been recorded in Morton County but probably does not breed there.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in March and April; young have been recorded being fed by parents throughout May.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is between 5 and 10 eggs.

Nests are placed in cavities about 30 feet high in elm and sycamore.

=House Wren=: _Troglodytes aedon parkmanii_ Audubon.--This summer resident is common in the east and uncommon in the west. Preferred habitat is in woodland, brushland, and urban parkland. House Wrens arrive in eastern Kansas in the period April 3 to 27 (the median is April 19), and are last seen in autumn in the period September 19 to October 13 (the median is September 30).

_Breeding schedule._--The 116 records of breeding span the period April 11 to July 31 (Fig. 7); the modal date of laying is May 20. About 45 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period May 11 to 31.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 7 eggs (5.8, 3-7; 20). Clutches laid in May average 6.1 eggs (4-7; 14); those laid in June and July average 5.0 eggs (3-7; 6).

Nests are placed in cavities about ten feet high (ranging from two to 50 feet) in cottonwood, elm, willow, and a wide variety of structures, mostly nestboxes, built by man.

=Bewick Wren=: _Thryomanes bewickii_ Audubon.--This wren is an uncommon resident in Kansas, except for the northeastern quarter, in woodland understory and brushland. _T. b. bewickii_ Audubon occurs north and east of stations in Riley, Pottawatomie, Douglas, and Linn counties, and _T. b. cryptus_ Oberholser is found south of stations in Greeley, Stafford, and Linn counties; a zone of intergradation occurs between the two named populations. The species occupies marginal habitat in most of Kansas and periodically is reduced in numbers by severe winters.

_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period March 21 to July 10 (Fig. 7); the modal date for first clutches is April 15 and for second clutches June 15.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.5, 5-7; 12).

Nests are placed in crevices about five feet high (ranging from zero to nine feet) in trees (oak, cherry, and pear), boulders, and a wide variety of structures, some of them nestboxes, built by man; appropriation and modification of nests of Barn Swallows is known to occur.

=Carolina Wren=: _Thryothorus ludovicianus ludovicianus_ Latham.--This common resident of southeastern Kansas in woodland understory and brushland is uncommon in the northeastern and south-central sectors. Stations of breeding all fall east of a line running through Doniphan, Riley, and western Reno counties. North and west of southeastern Kansas the Carolina Wren is in marginal habitat and periodically is reduced in numbers by severe winters.

_Breeding schedule._--Fourteen records of breeding span the period April 11 to August 10; the modal date for laying is April 15, to judge only from the present sample. The species probably breeds also in late March and early April.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.2, 3-8; 9).

Nests are placed near the ground in stumps, and a wide variety of structures built by man, or in crevices in earthen banks.

=Long-billed Marsh Wren=: _Telmatodytes palustris dissaeptus_ (Bangs).--This is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas in and around marshes. Presumably breeding individuals occur east of stations in Doniphan, Shawnee, and Sedgwick counties, but actual records of breeding come only from Doniphan County (Linsdale, 1928:505). First dates of arrival in spring run from April 19 to 29 (the median is April 22), and dates of last autumnal occurrence are from September 26 to October 31 (the median is October 8).

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid from May to August.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 or 6 eggs; the range is from 3 to 10 (Welter, 1935).

Nests are woven of broad-bladed grasses, usually no farther than two feet from water or mud, suspended in vertical plant stalks or branches in marshes.

=Short-billed Marsh Wren=: _Cistothorus platensis stellaris_ (Nauman).--This rare and irregular summer resident in northeastern Kansas occurs in wet meadowland. Breeding records are available from Douglas and Coffey counties. Temporal occurrence in the State is at least from April 29 to October 25; early dates are most likely of transients.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in late July and August.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 6 or 7 eggs.

Nests are woven of plant fibers and placed in vertically-running stalks and stems of grasses and short, woody vegetation, within two feet of the ground.

=Rock Wren=: _Salpinctes obsoletus obsoletus_ (Say).--This species is a common summer resident in western Kansas, in open, rocky country. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual nests found come from west of stations in Decatur, Trego, and Comanche counties. Dates of occurrence are from April 2 to October 25. Autumnal, postbreeding movement brings the species east at least to Cloud County (October 7, 8, and 12) and Douglas County (October 25).

_Breeding schedule._--Sixteen records of breeding span the period May 11 to July 20; the modal date for egg-laying is June 15.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.6, 3-7; 5).

Nests are placed in holes in rocks, occasionally in rodent burrows, from ground level to 80 feet high on faces of cliffs, but there averaging about 20 feet.

=Northern Mockingbird=: _Mimus polyglottos_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common resident in parkland and brushy savannah throughout Kansas. _M. p. polyglottos_ (Linnaeus) occurs in the east, and _M. p. leucopterus_ (Vigors) in the west; a broad zone of intergradation exists between the two. Most specimens from Kansas are of intermediate morphology.

_Breeding schedule._--Sixty-nine records of breeding span the period April 21 to July 31 (Fig. 7); the modal date for first clutches is June 5, but is weakly indicated in the histogram (Fig. 7).

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.5, 3-5; 27). Size of clutch does not vary seasonally or geographically in the present sample.

Nests are placed about four feet high (two to 10 feet) in osage orange, red cedar, mulberry, scotch pine, catalpa, cottonwood, rose, and arbor vitae.

=Catbird=: _Dumetella carolinensis_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common summer resident in the eastern half of Kansas, but is local in the west, in and near woodland edge and second-growth. First dates of arrival in spring are from April 25 to May 14 (the median is May 6), and last dates of autumnal occurrence are between September 20 and November 16 (the median is September 26).

_Breeding schedule._--Seventy-seven records of breeding span the period May 11 to July 31 (Fig. 7); the modal date for egg-laying is May 25, and 57 per cent of all clutches are laid from May 21 to June 10.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.3, 2-5; 43). Clutches laid between May 11 and June 10 tend to be of 4 eggs (3.5, 2-5; 27), and clutches laid between June 11 and July 31 tend to be of 3 eggs (2.9, 2-4; 16).

Nests are placed about four feet high in shrubs (rose, lilac, plum, elderberry) and about seven feet high in trees (red cedar, honey locust, willow, elm, apple, and in vines in such trees).

=Brown Thrasher=: _Toxostoma rufum_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common summer resident in woodland understory, edge, and second-growth. _T. r. rufum_ (Linnaeus) occurs in eastern Kansas, to the western edge of the Flint Hills, and _T. r. longicauda_ Baird occurs west of stations in Decatur, Lane, and Meade counties; the intervening populations are of intermediate morphologic character. Some individuals overwinter in Kansas, but most are regular migrants and summer residents, arriving in spring from April 1 to April 25 (the median is April 19), and departing in autumn between September 19 and October 13 (the median is September 28).

_Breeding schedule._--The 237 records of breeding span the period May 1 to July 20 (Fig. 7); the modal date for egg-laying is May 15, and one-third of all eggs are laid in the period May 11 to 20.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs, ranging from 2 to 5. Seasonal variation and mean values are shown in Table 15.

Nests are placed about four feet high (ranging from 1-2/3 to 15 feet) in osage orange, elm, ornamental evergreens, gooseberry, barberry, honey locust, cottonwood, red cedar, rose, plum, honeysuckle, spirea, arbor vitae, willow, oak, apple, dogwood, and maple.

TABLE 15.--SEASONAL VARIATION IN CLUTCH-SIZE OF THE BROWN THRASHER

============+==================+===================
TIME | Mean clutch-size | Number of records
------------+------------------+-------------------
May 1-10 | 3.3 | 15
May 10-20 | 3.9 | 38
May 21-31 | 4.1 | 13
June 1-10 | 3.5 | 13
June 11-20 | 3.5 | 12
June 21-30 | 3.4 | 9
July 1-10 | 3 | 1
July 11-20 | 3 | 1
All: | 3.63 | 102
------------+------------------+-------------------

=Robin=: _Turdus migratorius migratorius_ Linnaeus.--This summer resident is common in the east, and is locally common in the west. Some individuals, usually in small groups, can be seen throughout the winter in eastern Kansas, and their presence makes it difficult to document dates of arrival and departure of the strictly summer resident birds; these can be said to arrive in March and to leave in October, but these indications are the barest approximations.

_Breeding schedule._--The 334 records of breeding span the period April 1 to July 20 (Fig. 7); the modal date of laying of first clutches is April 25, but subsequent peaks are indistinct. Nearly half of all eggs are laid in the period April 11 to 30.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.6, 3-6; 57). Clutches laid prior to May 10 average 3.6 eggs (3-6; 47), and those laid subsequent to May 10 average 3.5 eggs (3-4; 10).

Nests are placed about 13 feet from the ground (ranging from two to 30 feet) in elm, ornamental conifers, fruit trees, cottonwood, mulberry, walnut, hackberry, oak, ash, maple, osage orange, and coffeeberry. Robins rarely nest in manmade structures, such as on rafters in sheds and barns, on bridge stringers, and, exceptionally, on electrical utility pole installations.

=Wood Thrush=: _Hylocichla mustelina_ (Gmelin).--This is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, presently absent from the State west of stations in Cloud and Barber counties. Preferred habitat is found in understory of forest and woodland. Wood Thrushes appear to have nested in small numbers as far west as Oberlin, Decatur County (Wolfe, 1961), some 50 years ago, but have since disappeared from such places, probably as a result of progressive modification of watershed and riparian timber by man. First dates of arrival in spring are from April 19 to May 20 (the median is May 9), and departure southward is in the period September 3 to October 1 (the median is September 15).

_Breeding schedule._--Thirty-eight records of breeding fall in the period May 11 to August 10 (Fig. 7); the modal date of egg-laying is June 5 for first clutches. Fifty-five per cent of all eggs are laid between May 21 and June 10.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.4, 3-4; 9).

Nests are placed about 11 feet high in elm, dogwood, willow, linden, and oak.

=Eastern Bluebird=: _Sialia sialis sialis_ (Linnaeus).--This locally common resident and summer resident in eastern Kansas, is only casual west of Comanche County, in open parkland and woodland edge.

_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-four records of breeding span the period April 1 to July 20 (Fig. 7); the modal date for first clutches is April 25 and for second clutches is June 5.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.9, 4-6; 15).

Nests are placed in cavities about eight feet high in trees (elm, box elder, fruit trees, willow, and ash), and about four feet high in stumps, fence posts, and nestboxes placed by man.

=Blue-gray Gnatcatcher=: _Polioptila caerulea caerulea_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident is common in eastern Kansas in brushy woodland, edge, and second growth. Specimens taken in the breeding season and nesting records come from east of stations in Riley and Cowley counties, but there is a breeding specimen from Oklahoma just south of Harper County, Kansas. The species is present from March 30 to September 18.

_Breeding schedule._--Twelve records of breeding span the period April 20 to June 20; the modal date for egg-laying is May 10.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs.

Nests are placed in forks or on limbs about 17 feet high in oak, elm, honey locust, red haw, pecan, and walnut.

=Cedar Waxwing=: _Bombycilla cedrorum_ Vieillot.--This waxwing is a rare, local, and highly irregular summer resident in northeastern Kansas, in woodland and forest edge habitats. The known nesting stations are in Wyandotte and Shawnee counties; six nests have been found in the period 1949 to 1960. The species has been recorded in all months.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in June and early July.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are placed four to 24 feet high in a variety of deciduous and coniferous trees and shrubs.

=Loggerhead Shrike=: _Lanius ludovicianus_ Linnaeus.--This common resident and summer resident favors open country with scattered shrubs and thickets. _L. l. migrans_ Palmer occurs in eastern Kansas, west to about the 96th meridian, and _L. l. excubitorides_ Grinnell occurs in western Kansas, east to about the 100th meridian; populations of intermediate character occupy central Kansas. These shrikes tend to be resident in southern counties, but are migratory in the north. Dates of spring arrival in Cloud County are between March 9 and 31 (the median is March 21) and the birds leave southward between October 19 and December 19 (the median is November 1).

_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-seven records of breeding span the period April 1 to June 30 (Fig. 7); the modal date for egg-laying is April 15.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.3, 4-7; 32). There is no seasonal variation in the sample.

Nests are placed about six feet high (ranging from four to 10 feet) in osage orange, small pines, honeysuckle vines, and elm.

=Starling=: _Sturnus vulgaris_ Linnaeus.--This species is a common resident in towns and around farms, foraging in open fields of various kinds. Starlings (introduced into North America from European stocks of _S. v. vulgaris_) first appeared in eastern Kansas in the early 1930s and were established as successful residents by 1935 or 1936. Occupancy of Kansas to the west took only a few years. There are no specimens taken in the breeding season or actual nesting records from southwest of Ellis and Stafford counties; Starlings seem to be resident in Cheyenne County, but no nesting record exists from there.

_Breeding schedule._--Sixty-seven records of breeding span the period March 1 to June 30 (Fig. 7); the modal date for first clutches is April 15, and for second clutches is June 5.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.2, 4-8; 19).

Nests are placed about 22 feet high (ranging from eight to 50 feet) in crevices in elm, locust, hackberry, nestboxes placed by man, and in a variety of other structures of man.

=Black-capped Vireo=: _Vireo atricapilla_ Woodhouse.--This was a summer resident, apparently of limited distribution but in good numbers, in Comanche County, in oak woodland and brushland edge. No specimens have been taken in Kansas since 1885.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are probably laid in May and June. Goss (1891:351) found a nest under construction on May 11, 1885, and this is the only nesting record of the species in the State.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are placed low, perhaps around four feet high, in deciduous trees and shrubs (Davie, _op. cit._).

=White-eyed Vireo=: _Vireo griseus noveboracensis_ (Gmelin).--This is a local summer resident in eastern Kansas, in woodland and forest edge. Stations of breeding occurrence are in Doniphan, Douglas, Johnson, Anderson, Labette, and Montgomery counties. The species is present within the extreme dates of April 23 to October 5 (Table 16).

_Breeding schedule._--Ten records of breeding span the period May 10 to June 30; the modal date for egg-laying is June 10. The present sample is not adequate to indicate extreme or modal dates with reasonable accuracy.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.6, 3-4; 5).

Nests are placed relatively low in forks in trees and shrubs.

=Bell Vireo=: _Vireo bellii bellii_ Audubon.--This summer resident is common in riparian thickets and second-growth scrub. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 16. _Breeding schedule._--Sixty-six records of breeding span the period May 1 to July 20 (Fig. 7); the modal date for egg-laying is May 25, and a little under 40 per cent of all eggs are laid in the period May 21-31. Renesting following disruption of first nests is regular, and the small peak in the histogram in the period June 11-20 is representative of this.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.6, 3-6; 21). Clutches in May have an average of 3.7 eggs, and those in June and July 3.6 eggs.

Nests are placed about two feet high (ranging from one to five feet) in terminal or lateral forks of small branches in elm, hackberry, osage orange, coralberry, dogwood, plum, honey locust, mulberry, willow, cottonwood, and box elder.

=Yellow-throated Vireo=: _Vireo flavifrons_ Vieillot.--This is a rare and local summer resident in deciduous forest and woodland in eastern Kansas. Stations of breeding occurrence fall east of Shawnee and Woodson counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 16.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in May.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.

Nests are placed 16 to 30 feet high in forks of mature deciduous trees.

TABLE 16.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT VIREOS IN KANSAS

=Red-eyed Vireo=: _Vireo olivaceus olivaceus_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident is common in the east, but is local and less abundant in the west, in woodland and deciduous forest. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 16.

_Breeding schedule._--Eight records of breeding fall in the period May 21 to July 31; most records of egg-laying are in the first week of June.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.0, 3-5; 5).

Nests are placed in forks of mature deciduous trees, usually fairly high--perhaps 15 to 25 feet (Davie, 1898).

=Warbling Vireo=: _Vireo gilvus gilvus_ (Vieillot).--This summer resident is common in woodland and forest edge. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 16.

_Breeding schedule._--Seventeen records of breeding span the period May 1 to June 20, but it is likely that breeding later in June and July will be recorded. The modal date for egg-laying is June 5, and this seems to be a reliable index to the major effort in egg-laying in spite of the small sample.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.6, 3-4; 5). Nests are placed three to 25 feet high in a variety of deciduous shrubs and trees.

=Black-and-white Warbler=: _Mniotilta varia_ (Linnaeus).--This local and uncommon summer resident lives in deciduous forest and woodland. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual records of nesting come from Doniphan, Douglas, Coffey, Greenwood, Sedgwick, Labette, and Cherokee counties. Temporal occurrence in the State is indicated in Table 17.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is around 5 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are placed on the ground, in depressions or niches, under heavy cover.

=Prothonotary Warbler=: _Protonotaria citrea_ (Boddaert).--This is a local summer resident in eastern Kansas, in understory of riparian timber and swampy woodland. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual records of nesting come from Doniphan, Douglas, Linn, and Cowley counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 17.

_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period May 11 to July 10 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is June 5, and 75 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period June 1 to 20.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.5, 3-6; 15).

Nests are placed in holes and niches in willow, red haw, elm, and a variety of stumps, about eight feet high (ranging from five to 20 feet), usually over water. A pair nested once in a gourd under the eave of a house in Winfield, Cowley County, and another pair in a tin cup on a shelf at a sawmill (Goss, ex Long, 1936).

=Parula Warbler=: _Parula americana_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident in eastern Kansas usually can be found in heavy woodland and flood-plain timber. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual records of breeding come from Doniphan, Riley, Douglas, Montgomery, Labette, and Cherokee counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 17.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least from mid-May to mid-June.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.

Nests are placed in debris in root tangles along stream banks, and, presumably, in pendant arboreal lichens.

=Yellow Warbler=: _Dendroica petechia_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident is common in the east, in woodland and riparian growths. _D. p. aestiva_ (Gmelin) occupies eastern Kansas west at least to Barber County, but it is not known how far west representatives of this population breed. _D. p. morcomi_ Coale breeds in western Kansas. _D. p. sonorana_ Brewster, a name applicable to Yellow Warblers of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, has been considered a "straggler" (Long, 1940) or probable summer resident (Tordoff, 1956; Johnston, 1960) in southwestern Kansas, on the basis of one specimen taken on June 24, 1911, at a point two miles south of Wallace, Wallace County. This specimen, which is pale, was identified in 1935 as _D. p. sonorana_ by H. C. Oberholser. Specimens taken subsequently from Cheyenne, Hamilton, and Morton counties in the breeding season can be referred adequately to _D. p. morcomi_. Probably the specimen of 1911 is a pale variant of _D. p. morcomi_ within its normal distributional range. _Breeding schedule._--Thirty-five records of breeding span the period May 11 to June 20 (Fig. 8); this probably is inadequate to show the extent of the season, and some egg-laying into July is likely to be found in the future. The modal date of egg-laying is May 25, and this is likely to be reliable.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.2, 3-5; 29).

Nests are placed about nine feet high (ranging from five to 20 feet) in crotches of trees and shrubs including willow, elderberry, cottonwood, crabapple, plum, and coralberry.

=Prairie Warbler=: _Dendroica discolor discolor_ (Vieillot).--This rare, local summer resident occurs in deciduous second-growth. The only breeding records are from Wyandotte and Johnson counties.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in June.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are placed low, perhaps about four feet high, in a wide variety of small trees and shrubs.

=Louisiana Waterthrush=: _Seiurus motacilla_ (Vieillot).--This uncommon to rare summer resident in eastern Kansas lives in woodland understory near streams. Nesting records come from Douglas, Miami, Linn, and Crawford counties. Wolfe (1961) reports he found a nest with young near Oberlin, Decatur County, on June 10, 1910, under an overhanging bank of Sappa Creek; Decatur County is some 250 miles west of the present western limit of the breeding range of the Louisiana Waterthrush, and western habitats are not favorable for their occurrence. Temporal characteristics of their distribution are indicated in Table 17.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are placed in concealed places in banks or stumps always where it is wet.

TABLE 17.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT WOOD WARBLERS
IN KANSAS

=Kentucky Warbler=: _Oporornis formosus_ (Wilson).--This is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in deciduous forest and woodland. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual records of nesting come from Riley, Doniphan, Douglas, Leavenworth, Linn, Montgomery, and Labette counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 17.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 or 5 eggs.

Nests are placed near or on the ground, usually at the base of small shrubs or clumps of grass.

=Yellowthroat=: _Geothlypis trichas_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident in and near marshes is common in the east and is local and somewhat less common in the west. _G. t. brachydactylus_ (Swainson) breeds east of stations in Clay, Greenwood, and Montgomery counties, _G. t. occidentalis_ Brewster breeds west of stations in Decatur, Stafford, and Pratt counties, and the intervening area is occupied by warblers of intermediate morphologic characters. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 17.

_Breeding schedule._--Nine records of breeding span the period May 11 to June 10; the modal date of egg-laying is June 1. The season is probably more extended in time than is indicated by the available records.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.8, 4-5; 6).

Nests are placed in cattails and sedges one to two and one-half feet high.

=Yellow-breasted Chat=: _Icteria virens_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident is common in willow thickets and rank second-growth. _I. v. virens_ (Linnaeus) breeds in eastern Kansas, from Nemaha County south, _I. v. auricollis_ (Deppe) breeds in western Kansas, from Norton County south, and the intervening sector is occupied by chats of intermediate morphologic character. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 17.

_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-six records of breeding span the period May 11 to July 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for completion of clutches is June 5. Forty-two per cent of all eggs are laid in the period June 1 to 10.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.9, 3-5; 21). Clutches in May are larger than those in June and July.

Nests are placed in forks and crotches about three feet high in dogwood, willow, rose, coralberry, cottonwood, and thistles.

=Hooded Warbler=: _Wilsonia citrina_ (Boddaert).--This warbler is a rare summer resident in eastern Kansas, in wet, open woodland. Specimens (a total of four) taken in the breeding season are from Leavenworth and Shawnee counties, and the one nesting record is from Anderson County.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in May.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.

Nests are low (some as high as six feet) in woody vegetation.

=American Redstart=: _Setophaga ruticilla ruticilla_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident occurs locally in woodlands east from stations in Cloud and Sumner Counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 17.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898), but there are two records of 5 in Kansas. Nests are placed six to 30 feet high, but usually about 12 feet, in forks or saddled on a branch, in deciduous trees.

=House Sparrow=: _Passer domesticus_ (Linnaeus).--This sparrow, introduced from stocks in Ohio and New York (originally from England and Germany), has been present since about 1876 in eastern Kansas; it is a common resident in towns and at farmsteads throughout the state.

Nomenclaturally, House Sparrows in North America consistently have been referred to the European ancestral stocks, _P. d. domesticus_, but none in North America today duplicates morphologically the European birds. This is evidence of meaningful adaptation of the North American populations to environments in which they now live, and continued use of _P. d. domesticus_ is misleading. Studies on local differentiation in North American House Sparrows are in progress, and when the biology of sparrows in the midwest is better understood, suitable nomenclatural proposals will be made.

_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-one records of breeding span the period March 20 to July 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for laying of first clutches is April 5, and for second clutches May 5.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.9, 3-7; 13).

Nests are placed in niches of various sorts seven to 50 feet high in buildings, nestboxes, and trees, or freely situated in forks and crotches of large trees.

=Bobolink=: _Dolichonyx oryzivorus_ (Linnaeus).--This species is a rare and local summer resident, in and about grassy meadows. There are but two stations of breeding in Kansas: Jamestown State Lake, Cloud County, and Big Salt Marsh, Stafford County. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 18.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in June.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs.

Nests are placed on the ground amidst grasses.

=Eastern Meadowlark=: _Sturnella magna_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident and resident is common in eastern Kansas, in moist grassland. _S. m. argutula_ Bangs occurs in Montgomery, Labette, and Cherokee counties and intergrades to the north and west with _S. m. magna_ (Linnaeus). Good numbers of birds are found east of the Flint Hills, but to the west the species is of restricted and local distribution. Extreme outliers of the species are found no farther west than stations in Jewell, Stafford, and Barber counties.

_Breeding schedule._--Forty records of breeding span the period April 10 to July 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is May 5. Fifty-seven per cent of all eggs are laid in the period May 1 to 20.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.2, 4-7; 26). Prior to May 11, clutch-size is 5.3 eggs (13 records), and after that date it is 5.1 eggs (13 records).

Nests are placed on the ground, with cover of grasses or forbs.

=Western Meadowlark=: _Sturnella neglecta neglecta_ (Audubon).--This is a common resident and summer resident in western Kansas, and is restricted and local in the east; preferred habitat is in grassy uplands.

_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-three records of breeding span the period April 10 to July 30 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is May 5 for first nests and June 5 for second nests.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.3, 3-6; 16).

Nests are placed on the ground with cover of grasses or forbs.

=Yellow-headed Blackbird=: _Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus_ (Bonaparte).--This uncommon and local summer resident occurs chiefly in the west, in marshes. Nesting records are from Wallace, Meade, Barton, Stafford, Doniphan, and Douglas counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 18.

_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-one records of breeding span the period May 20 to June 30; the modal date of egg-laying is June 5. The sample is probably not large enough to be wholly reliable.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.

Nests are placed within a few feet of water in cattail, rush, sedge, and willow.

=Red-winged Blackbird=: _Agelaius phoeniceus_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common summer resident in marshes, wet pasture, and scrubby parkland throughout the State. _A. p. phoeniceus_ (Linnaeus) occurs in most of Kansas and _A. p. fortis_ (Ridgway) occurs in the west, east to about Decatur County. A few birds can be found in eastern Kansas in winter; the full breeding population is present between April and October.

_Breeding schedule._--The 109 records of breeding in Cloud County span the period May 1 to July 30 (Fig. 8); the modal date for laying is May 25, and 71 per cent of all eggs are laid in the period May 11 to June 10. Eighty-eight records of breeding from northwestern Kansas make a histogram almost exactly duplicating the one from Cloud County.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size at Concordia, Cloud County, is 4 eggs (3.7, 3-5; 48); in northeastern Kansas mean clutch-size is 3.7 eggs (3-5; 46). For the total sample, mean clutch-size in May is 4.0 eggs, in June, 3.7 eggs, and in July, 3.3 eggs.

Nests are placed about four feet high (one to nine feet) in willow, cattail, sedge, grass, elm, exotic conifer, elderberry, coralberry, buttonbrush, honeysuckle, smartweed, ash, osage orange, and yellow clover.

In central Kansas red-wings are host to the Brown-headed Cowbird in a frequency of one parasitized nest out of nine; in northeastern Kansas the ratio is 1:25.

TABLE 18.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT ICTERIDS IN KANSAS

=Orchard Oriole=: _Icterus spurius_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident is common in parkland, woodland, and old second-growth. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 18.

_Breeding schedule._--The 118 records of breeding span the period May 11 to August 10 (Fig. 8); the modal date for completion of clutches is June 5, and 45 per cent of all eggs are laid in the first ten days of June.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-6; 41). Clutches laid at the peak of the season average 4.3 eggs (3-6; 26), and replacement clutches average 3.8 eggs (3-4; 9). Nests are hung about 15 feet high (ranging from six to 55 feet) in elm, cottonwood, hackberry, locust, catalpa, willow, alder, osage orange, walnut, pear, linden, and ash.

=Baltimore Oriole=: _Icterus galbula_ (Linnaeus).--This common summer resident is most numerous in the east, in woodland and riparian timber. The species hybridizes freely with the Bullock Oriole in western Kansas, and individuals morphologically typical of Baltimore Orioles are rare west of the 100th meridian. Evidence of such hybridization can be found in specimens taken in eastern Kansas, but the linear nature of distribution along water-courses to the west restricts gene-flow, and evident hybrids are not yet conspicuous. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 18.

_Breeding schedule._--Eighty-three records of breeding span the period May 11 to July 10 (Fig. 8); the modal date of egg-laying is June 5, and 66 per cent of all eggs are laid between May 21 and June 10.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs.

Nests are hung about 24 feet high (ranging from nine to 70 feet) in elm, cottonwood, sycamore, maple, and oak.

=Bullock Oriole=: _Icterus bullockii_ (Swainson).--This summer resident is common in western Kansas in woodland and riparian situations. The species hybridizes freely with the Baltimore Oriole, and most Bullock Orioles in Kansas show evidence of such interbreeding. Almost all records of breeding come from west of the 100th meridian, but the species in recognizable form probably breeds locally at least as far east as Stafford County.

_Breeding schedule._--Few nesting records are available, but these suggest that the breeding schedule of the Bullock Oriole resembles those of the preceding two species in Kansas.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.

Nests are hung about 26 feet high (ranging from 10 to 50 feet) in cottonwood, elm, and other large trees.

=Common Grackle=: _Quiscalus quiscula versicolor_ Vieillot.--This summer resident is common in parkland, and around towns and farms. Most individuals move out of Kansas in winter, and the temporal occurrence of these birds is indicated in Table 18.

_Breeding schedule._--The 233 records of breeding span the period April 11 to June 30 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is May 5, and two-thirds of all eggs are laid between May 1 and May 20.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.5, 3-6; 33). Clutches laid at the peak of the season average 4.7 eggs (3-6; 21), and those laid as replacement clutches average 4.3 eggs (3-6; 12).

Nests are placed in forks and crotches about 22 feet high (ranging from six to 50 feet) in elm, red cedar, cottonwood, oak, box elder, and pine.

=Brown-headed Cowbird=: _Molothrus ater ater_ (Boddaert).--Many individuals of this common summer resident overwinter in the southern part of the State and it is difficult to determine dates of arrival and departure in Kansas. Conspicuous abundance in the north covers the period April to October.

_Breeding schedule._--The 141 instances of egg-laying span the period April 21 to July 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date of laying is May 15, and 53 per cent of all eggs are laid in the period May 11 to June 10. Inception of laying is here fairly reliably indicated, but in exceptionally early springs laying does occur earlier; a few eggs were found on April 6, 1963, too late for incorporation into this report other than in this sentence.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size in cowbirds is not readily determined. On the basis of ovarian examination of five females taken in mid-season, the birds here lay about five eggs at a time. There is no question that the birds are "double-brooded" in Kansas, and the season is sufficiently long for as many as five "clutches" to be laid by a given female.

Eggs are laid in nests of some forty species of birds in Kansas; 39 of these are passerines. No preference for any one species is detectable; the most frequently parasitized species are simply the common species, and these are the kinds for which nesting records are easily gathered by man. In the following list of host species, the names marked with an asterisk are the conspicuously parasitized species.

Mourning Dove, Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Phoebe,* Say Phoebe,* Acadian Flycatcher, Barn Swallow, Horned Lark, Carolina Wren, Rock Wren, Brown Thrasher,* Mockingbird, Catbird, Wood Thrush,* Eastern Bluebird, Yellow-throated Vireo, Bell Vireo,* White-eyed Vireo,* Parula Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Yellow-breasted Chat, Yellowthroat, Eastern Meadowlark, Western Meadowlark, Red-winged Blackbird,* Orchard Oriole,* Cardinal,* Black-headed Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting,* Blue Grosbeak, Dickcissel,* Pine Siskin,* Rufous-sided Towhee,* Grasshopper Sparrow, Lark Sparrow,* Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow.*

=Scarlet Tanager=: _Piranga olivacea_ (Gmelin).--This rare summer resident in northeastern Kansas occurs in deciduous forest and bottomland timber. Specimens taken in the breeding season and records of nesting come from Clay, Doniphan, Douglas, Wyandotte, Johnson, and Linn counties, but the species probably occupies the entire eastern third of the State. Dates of arrival in spring are from April 29 to May 25 (the median is May 11), and dates of departure in autumn are from August 4 to September 23 (the median is August 10).

_Breeding schedule._--Six records of breeding fall in the period May 11 to June 20.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.

Nests are placed 20 to 35 feet high in elm, linden, hickory, and walnut.

=Summer Tanager=: _Piranga rubra rubra_ (Linnaeus).--This uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas occurs in woodland. Specimens taken in the breeding season and records of nesting come from east of stations in Doniphan, Shawnee, and Montgomery counties. Dates of arrival in spring run from April 24 to May 18 (the median is April 29), and the species departs southward in September and October.

_Breeding schedule._--Eleven records of egg-laying cover the period May 21 to July 20; the modal date for laying is June 5.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.

Nests are situated ten to 20 feet high on horizontal limbs of large trees.

=Cardinal=: _Richmondena cardinalis cardinalis_ (Linnaeus).--This species is a common resident in eastern Kansas, west to about the 99th meridian; west of this line the species becomes local and uncommon to rare. Habitat in the east is found in woodland, edge, second-growth and open riparian timber, and in the west the species is restricted to riparian growths, chiefly along the Republican, Solomon, Smoky Hill, Arkansas, and Cimarron rivers, and their larger tributaries.

_Breeding schedule._--The 117 records of breeding span the period April 1 to September 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for laying of first clutches is May 1, subsequent to which breeding activity is regular but asynchronous.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.5, 3-6; 65). Seasonal variation in clutch-size is as follows:

Date Mean clutch-size Number of records

April 1-20 3.0 6
April 21-May 10 3.8 25
May 11-May 31 3.3 15
June 1-June 20 3.6 11
June 21-July 20 3.3 7

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The Breeding Birds of KansasChapter III: Part 3

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