152 



THE MUSEUM. 



Northern Flying Squirrel. 



Sciuroptents volans sabriniis. 

 One specimen secured in the Upper 

 Peninsula by Oscar B. Warren, Mar- 

 quette Co., 1894. 



Further Notes on Antrostomus 

 Vociferous Whip-poor-will. 



J. H. BOWLES. 



Though ably treated by a Michigan 

 correspondent in the November num- 

 ber of the "Museum" it is possible 

 that the habits of this bird in its most 

 eastern haunts may afford some inte- 

 rest to the uninitiated. That the 

 habits of the eastern bird differ great- 

 ly from those of the western I hope to 

 show by giving my own and my 

 brother's experience. 



The Whip-poor-will arrives in east- 

 ern Massachusetts usually about the 

 first of May, but on April 25, 1893, I 

 was surprised to hear one in its favo- 

 rite haunt. I have further reason to 

 remember this date, as at the time I 

 was up an oak tree peering into a hole 

 in which a Screech Owl {Mcgascops 

 asio) had set up house keeping. 



Now as to the locality where the 

 nest, or set of eggs, is to be found: 

 In Michigan it is "in a forest," while 

 in Massachusetts I have never seen 

 the eggs in large woods, though I con- 

 fess to having met with only five sets. 

 All of these were on high ground in 

 young oak and chestnut woods, one 

 being in a patch of "scrub" chestnuts 

 of from si.x to ten feet in height. All 

 were on the edge of clearings, and all 

 but one within a few yards of much 

 travelled wood and main roads. 



The spot on which the eggs are 

 laid seems to be essentially the same 

 as that of the western bird, though, in 



a nest of which I have before me, the 

 eggs were placed on a tuft of dead grass 

 still rooted in the ground. I also am 

 of the opinion that the leaves and 

 ground are never disturbed in order to 

 form any semblance of a nest. 



The set is here usually completed in 

 the third week of May, though oc- 

 casionally fresh eggs are found in early 

 June. If robbed of its first laying, 

 which I have always found to consist 

 of two eggs, a third egg is sometimes 

 laid in the immediate vicinity (of this 

 second set, more anon.) I can add 

 nothing to the excellent discription 

 given on the color and shape of the 

 eggs, except that one Q^;g is some- 

 time larger than the other, but give 

 the extremes of a series of eggs in my 

 collection. 1.23 x. 85, 1.15X. 78 in- 

 ches. 



All of my sets were found by my 

 dog flushing the bird, and, when nec- 

 essary, leading me to the eggs. This 

 is a very certain method of hunting 

 nests, though some time and patience 

 is needed in training the dog who 

 must also be taught to think &n egg a 

 combination of white lead, strychnine 

 and cayenne pepper. 



The actions of the birds when flush- 

 ed from their eggs, are variable. some- 

 times they fly silently out of sight, 

 while at others they will be crippled 

 to a distressing extent. Away from 

 the nest, however, we easterners con- 

 sider the Whip-poor-will among our 

 most sociable bird acquaintances. In 

 the summ.er a pair of them, having 

 each year a nest not two hundred 

 yards from my place, came into my 

 avenue every evening and hopped about 

 on the ash walk (not forty feet from 

 the house and the barn) where they 

 seemed to And an abundance of food.. 



