28 The Ottawa Naturalist. [May 



latter is valuable. What useful part this bird plays in the 

 economy of nature is difficult to imagine. As is well known it 

 builds no nest of its own but lays an egg here and there in the 

 nests of other birds smaller than itself. The poor little shipping 

 sparrow appears to be the commonest sufferer. The young cow- 

 bird outgrows the lawful heirs of the nest and soon monopolizes 

 it. It must keep the faithful mother busy satisfying the stomach 

 of this voracious intruder. 



The red-winged blackbird is quite common in the marsh at 

 St. Louis dam and breeds there regularly. These birds fly over 

 the high land well into the arboretum, probably after some kind 

 of food. 



Everv year a few pairs of meadow larks breed, and as their 

 nests are hard to find they usually rear their young. The meadow 

 lark arrives early in the spring and its peculiar notes are readily 

 recognized. 



The Baltimore oriole is closely related to the meadow lark, 

 but the habits of the birds are very different. As is well known, 

 the hanging nest is built near the end of a pendulous branch and 

 as large trees are usually chosen the nest is fairly safe from being 

 robbed, though, we regret to say, boys with catapults sometimes 

 play sad havoc with them. The oriole builds in the large elms at 

 the Farm. 



One of the noisiest birds is the bronzed grackle, which is also 

 among the first arrivals in the spring. It builds in the large pine 

 trees. 



Although the purple finch does not breed in large numbers 

 several nests have been found at the Farm. This is not a shy 

 bird and a nest has been found within one hundred feet of one of 

 the residences at the Farm. The white spruce appears to be the 

 favourite tree, and the nest is built from fifteen to twenty feet 

 from the ground. The female is quite tame when brooding, and 

 one can approach quite close to the nest without disturbing her. 

 A rare nest of the American goldfinch has been found late in the 

 season and it is probable that quite a number of pairs breed at the 

 Farm, but they breed late when few are looking for nests. 



The European house sparrow is closely related to the Ameri- 

 can goldfinch. This bird begins to breed early and continues late, 



