ORNITHOLOGY 



133 



count he is the constant dread of those 

 birds which nest in marshes where he 

 lives. If you will investigate the next 

 noisy demonstration among the nest- 

 ing blackbirds, you will probably find 

 that a well-fed bull snake and an empty 

 nest are the cause of the excitement. 



The accompanying picture is the re- 

 sult of a fortunate accident. In a low 



a time. They built every day in a 

 corner of our piazza near the roof, on a 

 little ledge which was hardly large 

 enough to contain a chipping sparrow's 

 nest. The consequence was that we 

 found each morning a heap of hay and 

 rubbish on the floor of the piazza ; this 

 went on for at least two weeks. At 

 last my sister had some sticks put 



1WO PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIES OF THE BULL SNAKE EATING PINTAIL EGGS. 



marshy meadow near a large lake, I 

 one day found a nest containing nine 

 eggs of the pintail duck. The mother 

 duck was very tame, and several at- 

 tempts were made to photograph her, 

 some of which were nearly successful. 

 About a week after the nest was first 

 seen, the mother bird was still brood- 

 ing, but four of the nine eggs had dis- 

 appeared. The next day the nest was 

 found to be occupied by a bull snake 

 almost four feet long, which had just 

 swallowed one of the remaining eggs. 

 It took the snake some time to force 

 the egg, which was somewhat wider 

 than his own body, down his throat, 

 and after having forced it down for 

 about three inches, the snake almost 

 instantly disgorged it when he was 

 touched with a stick. A fortunate ex- 

 posure caught the egg iust as it was 

 leavins: the snake's mouth. 



Birds are not Always "Wise." 



Stockbridge. Massachusetts. 

 To the* Editor : 



I wonder if you will be interested 

 in the idiotic conduct of a pair of rob- 

 ins here ; that is T presume there are 

 a pair, though T never saw but one at 



across the corner, and the hay col- 

 lected, and put back thereon, since 

 which time the female is apparently 

 incubating, though she is very timid 

 and flies off the nest almost every time 

 we go out on the piazza, although the 

 nest is fully ten feet above our heads 

 in a dark corner. I have been wonder- 

 ing if there were such things as "high- 

 class defectives" among birds. 



Yours truly. 



Virginia Butler. 



The Right Methods of Bird Study. 



New Haven, Conn. 

 To the Editor : 



The following may be of interest to 

 the readers of Tlie Guide to Nature 

 as a bit of birdlife in and about New 

 Haven, Connecticut. It was read be- 

 fore our Monday evening Nature Club, 

 at New Haven, which will exolain its 

 local references. 



In ten minutes I am to tell where 

 to find the warblers about New Haven, 

 and I invite you to take a favorite walk 

 with me, through Edge wood Park and 

 Mix's Wood. 



Sometimes, it takes ten minutes to 



