3IO 



Bird -Lore 



that lived in the pine trees around our 

 place during the month of March and the 

 beginning of April, 1913. There were 

 about forty or fifty birds in the flock. 

 They lived on the buds of the maple trees 

 and on the young tender ends on the pine 

 trees. The flock was made up of nearly 

 all females. It is a very rare sight to see 

 these birds in Ontario, although the Pine 

 Grosbeak is a frequent visitor in the 

 winter. — Robert B. Chilton, Cobourg, 

 Out. 



Two Interesting Bird Records from 

 Clarendon County, S. C. 



On January 15, 1909, while driving 

 along a country road, I was attracted by a 

 twittering in the bushes by the roadside, 

 and several dull-colored little birds became 

 visible. At first I thought them to be Gold- 

 finches in their winter plumage, but closer 

 investigation proved that they were Pine 

 Siskins. There were six of them, feeding 

 among the alders and sweet gum bushes 

 This is the first record I have for this bird. 

 In South Carolina it is very erratic in its 

 movements. That distinguished observer, 

 Mr. Arthur T. Wayne, of Mt. Pleasant, 

 has reported it in great abundance dur- 

 ing the winter of 1896, and it has been 

 seen by several persons during 1909. On 

 June 15 of the same year, I had the good 

 fortune to see a male Swainson's Warbler 

 and to hear its song. This event occurred 

 in the heart of a swampy tract of wood- 

 land. I had emerged from the swamp into 

 a small, dry part of the woods, grown up 

 with large pines and surrounded on all 

 sides by the swamp. A small brown bird 

 flew up about fifteen feet from me, and 

 perched in some vines. He remained here 

 several minutes, and I positively identified 

 him as Swainson's before he darted away 

 into the thick woods. His manner was 

 deliberate, and he reminded me of a 

 Hermit Thrush in his movements e.xcept 

 that he did not flit his wings after the 

 manner of the 'Swamp Angel.' He uttered 

 his song — a series of loud, ringing notes — • 

 which had something truly inspiring 

 about it. It is possible that this bird was 



breeding in this woods at the time, as 

 there were wet thickets in abundance and 

 also canes. — Edward S. Dingle, Sum- 

 merlon, S. C. 



The Building of a Robin's Nest 



With a view of ascertaining some facts 

 concerning the building of a Robin's nest, 

 I lately devoted a day, in some respects a 

 tedious one, to this end. 



Overnight I chanced to see the two birds 

 viewing a building-site on a beam out- 

 side a very heavy wooden structure. 

 Upon closely examining the spot, I found 

 a few straws and grasses, the merest 

 nucleus of a nest, perhaps not ten pieces 

 in all. With my glasses I reached the 

 spot at 6.15, the following morning 

 Sunday, May 11, 1913, at which time no 

 further work had been done. The follow- 

 ing notes are the result of my observa- 

 tions. Observed constantly (literally) 

 from 6.15 A.M. to 5.05 P.M. Subsequently 

 from 5.45 P.M. until dark. 



The first trip was made by the female, 

 closely followed by the male, at 6.40 a.m. 

 Nothing was done after 5.05 p.m., as, on 

 leaving for 40 minutes at that time, I placed 

 a spider's web in such a position that the 

 birds must disturb it if they visited the 

 nest. During the period of observation 

 (almost II hours), the male made 86 

 visits to the nest with material, and the 

 female 108. 



On every journey, practically, the 

 female brought larger loads than the male, 

 and twenty-two more of them. The 

 actual shaping of the nest was done 

 entirely by the female, the male usually 

 dropping his load haphazard on the edge 

 of the structure. 



Some of the loads brought by the female 

 were extraordinarily large and clumsy, 

 so much so that often she appeared from 

 a front view to be a flying bunch of straws 

 and excelsior. 



On several (at least four) occasions, the 

 male appeared to tire of standing hold- 

 ing his load, while his mate shaped the 

 nest to her liking, and, so, dropped it and 

 hurried oS for another. 



