174 



Bird - Lore 



A Nest Census 



During the breeding-season of 1915, my 

 friend, Robert Hatt, and I kept a record 

 of the nests found in our vicinity. Most 

 of these nests were noted in a tract of land 

 about fifteen miles long and two miles 

 wide. The nesting-season extended from 

 April to August and we noted probably 

 half of the nests built during this time. 



To do this we kept a notebook in which 

 we noted each nest as it was found. We 

 took many trips into the country and 

 around the farm for this purpose. The 

 Killdeer nests we found close to the stalks 

 of young corn while plowing it. Some of 

 the Doves' nests were found to be but 

 hollows in the ground, while the Phoebes' 

 were all under bridges. The Blue Jays and 

 Robins nested around the house and it was 

 hard work to keep the cats and Crows 

 from their nests. 



We found this a very interesting way 

 to study birds as it teaches one just where 

 to hunt for each kind. The first nest found 

 in the season was a Bluebird's in a house 

 I had put up. It was on April 10. The last 

 found, a Dove's on August 25, was in an 

 apple tree. 



The following is the list of nests with 

 the number of nests of each species. We 

 did not count English Sparrows' nests or 

 Cowbirds' eggs. 



Species No. of nests 



Spotted Sandpiper i 



Killdeer 5 



Bob-white 3 



Prairie Chicken i 



Mourning Dove 19 



Sparrow Hawk 3 



Yellow- or Black-billed Cuckoo ... 3 



Belted Kingfisher 2 



Red-headed Woodpecker 28 



Flicker 10 



Chimney Swift 4 



Kingbird 5 



Crested Flycatcher 3 



Phoebe 5 



Blue Jay 11 



Crow 8 



Bobolink i 



Red-winged Blackbird '. 27 



Species No. of nests 



Meadowlark 17 



Orchard Oriole 2 



Baltimore Oriole 6 



Purple Crackle 4 



Chipping Sparrow i 



Field Sparrow 2 



Song Sparrow i 



Towhee 4 



Cardinal 3 



Indigo Bunting 4 



Dickcissel i 



Purple Martin 34 



Barn Swallow 6 



Bank Swallow 16 



Loggerhead Shrike 3 



Catbird 16 



Brown Thrasher 27 



Bewick's Wren 2 



House Wren 5 



Tufted Titmouse 10 



Robin 42 



Bluebird iq 



Total, 40 species, 364 nests. 



— -Samuel G. Meigs, Lajayeltc, Ind. 



Spotted Sandpipers 



Two members of a bird-club went to a 

 small pond one day to look for water- 

 birds. As they drew near they noticed a 

 Sandpiper, which instead of flying away 

 hung around for some time giving a cer- 

 tain call. One of the girls said: "I believe 

 that Sandpiper has some babies here!" 



Not a sign of the young ones could be 

 seen, however, so they sat down on the 

 bank to watch. Just then the Sandpiper 

 swam to the farther side of the pond and 

 began to call a different note over and 

 over. Suddenly the grass moved at their 

 feet on the edge of the pond, and out 

 popped a little Sandpiper baby not so 

 large as a newly-hatched chicken ! Such a 

 tiny, fluffy ball ! It teetered along through 

 the grass till it came to the water, and then 

 one of the girls exclaimed: "That tiny 

 thing can never swim to its mother — it 

 will surely drown!" But in it went, and 

 swim it did, and reached its mother safe 

 and sound. Then the mother called again, 

 and at once another little baby appeared 



