I J4 Birds on Lung Island. 



As I watched the warblers, presently a flock of Chickadees 

 came drifting- through the tangle, a bit excited when they saw 

 me, their calls indicating both alarm and curiosity. The parent 

 birds were convoying a half dozen youngsters, and they, too, 

 were gleaning- worms and ants for food. Their excited cries 

 attracted a pair of Towhees which added their chee-wink, chee- 

 wink. towhee-towhec to the chorus of curiosity. Presently a 

 pair of Maryland Yellow-throats joined the party, all intent upon 

 investigating the intruder. Chipping sparrows joined in. and a 

 Black-billed Cuckoo stopped to see what it was all about ; but 

 this silent bird made no protest. Not so, however, with a 



Catbird which came hurrying up, to be followed a moment later 

 by a male Redstart, his brilliant orange adding a lovely bit of 

 colour to the party. 



Here were half a dozen varietes, all showing a lively 

 interest in the stranger in their domain. It seemed a pity to 

 longer disturb the quest for the morning meal and I withdrew, 

 listening to the distant song of the Wood Thrush, rising and 

 falling in cadences clear and melodious. 



The ospreys on Jessup's Neck, a long sand spit with a 

 heavily wooded headland, which separates Little Peconic and 

 Noyac bays, are again occupying the nests wdiere I have found 

 them for many years. By adding fresh sticks, the nest is 

 annually renewed, a process which continually adds to its height. 

 Some nests that were mere platforms when I first found them, 

 are now several feet high. Some of the nests are scarcely ten 

 feet from the ground, while others are located in the tops of the 

 cedars which are plentiful along the shore. Several of the 

 nests are surrounded with woodbines, which make a picturesque 

 and beautiful site for the domestic affairs of these interesting 

 birds. Ospreys are erroneously classified with hawks, probably 

 because of their common name fishhaw-k; but they belong in a 

 family or suborder by themselves. While they are rightly 

 placed in the order of Raptores, or birds of prey, they have 

 nc close relatives. 



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