Notes from Field and Study 



221 



I do not know whether it is the usual thing 

 for the male Osprey to share incubation. 

 I never saw the male in the other nest do so. 



After the young were hatched, the male 

 in the nest back of the house turned out 

 to be a great tease. He would come home 

 with a fine fish, and after the female and 

 young were sufficiently excited and clamor- 

 ing noisily for the food, he would fly away 

 with it, leaving a lamenting family behind. 

 Sometimes he flew to a nearby tree and 

 watched them; sometimes he flew out of 

 sight, repeating this tantalizing perform- 

 ance several times before giving the food 

 to his hungry family. He never ate the 

 fresh fish himself but always deposited it 

 in the nest where it was ravenously de- 

 voured by the female and young while he 

 dined on the reserve food which, of course, 

 was not so savory. The male in the other 

 nest never teased. Coming home with a 

 wriggling fish, he dutifully gave it to his 

 family. Was it the influence of the female 

 that made one male a tease and one a meek, 

 obedient mate? 



The brood in each nest consisted of but 

 two birds. They developed slowly and 

 about a month before leaving began to 

 flap their wings and make efforts to use 

 them. Their first flights were simple ones, 

 being low and very near to the nest to 

 which they returned apparently much ex- 

 hausted. By this time they were as large 

 as the parent birds, but were still fed and 

 cared for by the older ones. 



The nest perched on the topmost fork of 

 the tree faces right into the sun and has no 

 protection from rain or storm. During the 

 heat of the day or when the weather was 

 sizzling, the female stood between her 

 young and the sun protecting them by her 

 outstretched wings. 



Ospreys are distrustful of each other. 

 A stronger bird attacks a weaker one in 

 mid-air and steals his food. When a female 

 is on her nest and a male is flying near, 

 she becomes alarmed lest he come and take 

 the fish from her nest. They seem to have 

 no honest or fraternal instincts although I 

 have seen them unite to attack a common 

 foe. — Alice K. Meloy, Atlantic High- 

 lands, N. J. 



Saw-whet Owl at Branchport, N. Y. 



This species is so rarely 'discovered' here 

 that its every appearance is worthy of 

 special notice. On June 20, 1919, in the 

 subdued shade of a jungle of hemlocks, I 

 found this little Owl perched on a lowly 

 branch. He permitted me to approach 

 within several feet, flying but a short dis- 

 tance when I extended my hand. My 

 attention was attracted to him by the 

 scolding of Canadian and Black-throated 

 Green Warblers, both females. 



On the following day I had the pleasure 

 of introducing this little earless Owl to 

 Mrs. Stone, and on the third day, June 22, 

 Mr. Burtch and I found him perched in 

 the same hemlock jungle. An examination 

 of many pellets revealed only bones and 

 fur of woods mice; no bird feathers were 

 found. — Clarence F. Stone, Branchport, 

 N. Y. 



Kentucky Notes 



During the last days of April, 1919, in 

 a vacant lot near my house, a Mockingbird 

 sang an interesting medley. In the midst 

 of its song it would give in succession the 

 notes of four members of the Flycatcher 

 family, invariably following the same order 

 — Wood Pewee, Phoebe, Great-crested and 

 Least Flycatchers. This occurred many 

 times a day for almost a week. 



On Sept. 11, 1919, I found a Dove sit- 

 ting on a deserted Robin's nest, as if brood- 

 ing. She remained there two or three days 

 and then disappeared. Whether there were 

 any young hatched or not I could not find 

 out, as the nest was on a small limb of a 

 Carolina poplar, about twenty feet from 

 the ground. 



Though White-crowned and White- 

 throated Sparrows are rather plentiful here 

 in winter and abundant in migrations, they 

 vary widely in their distribution. Wher- 

 ever there is underbrush I find White- 

 throats, but in only three or four places in 

 four or five square miles do I ever see 

 White-crowns. One of these places is a 

 pasture where there are a few scrubby 

 cedars and a hedge of bois d'arc; another 

 is a small honey locust thicket near a 



