1909j The Ottawa Naturalist. 131 



THE TRAGIC SIDE OF BIRD LIFE. 

 By H. Groh, Ottawa. 



Poetry and song are full of the idealization of bird life; but 

 even bird life has its stern realities. The following notes are 

 gleaned from my field journal for the nesting months of Mav and 

 June, and include all the nests which came under my observation 

 during that time, in one small swamp within the city limits. 

 Their significance, as bearing upon the small tendency toward 

 increase of our native songsters, is sufficiently apparent without 

 comment. 



May 18. Black and White Warbler nest-building. Carry- 

 ing dead grass into a hole at base of a rotten stump. 



Mav 20. Robin's nest with eggs, in crotch of a tree in full 

 view of public road. 



May 24. Robin's nest empty. 



May 25. Black and White Warbler's nestcontains first egg. 

 Mav 26. Song Sparrow's nest with five eggs. 

 May 28. Song Sparrow's nest disturbed and eggs gone. 

 May 31. White -throated Sparrow's nest, containing four 

 eggs, one of them a Cow'bird's. 



June 2. Nest of Wilson's Thrush containing three eggs. 

 June 2. Black and White Warbler's nest has now five 

 eggs. By some accident the rotten side of the stump had got 

 crushed down in such a way as to block the entrance to the 

 nest, so that vesterdav morning the bird was unable to enter. 

 Cleaned it awav, and find this morning that she has returned. 



. June 3. Nest of Wilson's Thrush torn from its place on a 

 grassv mound, and eggs gone. 



June 7. Black and White'' Warbler's^'nest found to have 

 been torn out, and eggs missing. 



June 7. The White-throated Sparrow has hatched the 

 Cowbirds' and one of its own three eggs. The other two remain 

 in the nest, apparently worthless. The Cowbird distinctly the 

 larger nestling. 



June 12. Cowbird in White-throated Sparrow's nest _ has 

 so monopolized the attention of its foster parents, that it is 

 now fullv again as large as their rightful nestling. 



June 19. White-throated Sparrow's nest deserted, but 

 after' a minute or tw^o the parent birds appeared in the trees 

 above the nest, and by their chirping showed signs of concern. 

 No sign of either voung bird. 



This last entrv completes the history^of the nests discovered 

 in this sv/amo, with the single exception of one belonging to a 

 pair of crows, whose voung on June 12 had so far escaped the 

 fate of the other birds, as to be tr^nng their powers of flight. 



