The Audubon Societies 317 



to build in it. The next day they began to bring bits of grass and straw, 

 although it already had sawdust in the bottom of it. The nest was lined with 

 feathers. I could easily make these observations, as the roof of the box was 

 hinged on. I did not put my hand in the box or disturb the nest in any way, 

 but just looked in, never leaving the top open for more than a minute. Every 

 day one egg was laid until there were four. Then one day, when I looked in 

 I saw that the red squirrels had made a visit. The eggs were broken and the 

 nest destroyed. I half expected something of the kind, for I had seen the 

 squirrels around the box and been obliged to drive them away. Another of 

 my boxes was inhabited by Tree Swallows. I never saw the young birds, but 

 when I cleaned out the box in the fall, I could find no traces of broken eggs, so 

 I think that brood was successfully raised. 



I also made a bird-bath by digging a shallow hole of the right size and 

 shape, and coating the sides of it with cement. Robins, Chipping Sparrows, 

 White-throated Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Juncos, and a Yellow Warbler 

 visited the bird-bath this summer. 



I had a self -filling food-box outside the window on the side of the house. 

 Song Sparrows came to it mostly, but I saw a few Chipping Sparrows in it. 



Before I left last fall I took down the boxes, cleaned them out, and put 

 them up again for the birds to use for shelter this winter. I also tied suet to 

 the trees for them. 



I saw sixty-eight species of birds last summer. Among them, at Washing- 

 ton, D. C, were a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Black- throated Green Warbler, 

 Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-poll Warbler, 

 White-breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse and Brown Creeper. At Sorrento, 

 Maine, a Blue-headed Vireo, Great Blue Heron, and Sandhill Crane (?). 



My earliest record for this year is a Robin which I saw at Yonkers, N. Y., 

 on February 2. Four Robins were seen fhe following week. — Gifford Ewing, 

 (age, 13 years). New York City. 



[Bird-work of this kind should be more and more encouraged. The list of birds given 

 for Washington, D. C, is not dated, but is probably a migration rather than a nesting 

 list, since most of the species mentioned nest farther north. The record of a Sandhill 

 Crane in Maine is improbable for several reasons. First, no record of this species for 

 that state is known; second, this Crane has become extremely rare in most localities 

 where it was formerly common; and, third, its normal range is not along the Atlantic 

 seaboard in the vicinity of Maine. It is quite likely that a Green Heron, American Bittern 

 or Black-crowned Night Heron was seen by the observer. A good rule to follow in study- 

 ing birds is to look up the normal range of a species when first identifying it, and in case of 

 a doubtful record, to consult as many reliable lists as possible to discover its regular 

 occurrence. Learn what nol to expect in any locality. — A. H. W.] 



A FEATHERED PATIENT 



Perhaps you would like to hear about something that haj^pcned yesterday. 

 I was going through a field when I saw a Robin lying on the ground. 1 ran 



