The Breeding Birds of Kansas Part 14

_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=: _t.u.r.dus 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 doc.u.ment 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 ludovicia.n.u.s_ 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).