i.>4 



Bird - Lore 



nest is absolutely out in the open 

 entireij' unsheltered. 



When I first saw it, the work of build 

 ing was complete. When three eg;;s 

 had been deposited, incubation began. 

 All three hatched, and the young lived 

 several days. But something happened 

 to one, as only two lived to fly from the- 

 nest. 



On May 5, 1 secured the first pictures. 

 The mother seemed very fearless. I sat 

 quietly for only ten minutes awaiting her 

 return. Snapping the shutter twice at the 

 distance of twelve feet, I then moved up 

 just half that distance. Again I waited 

 less than ten minutes. Back she came and 

 I took a couple of shots without daring to 

 look at her except in the finder. At the 

 slightest movement of my head, away 

 she flew. 



Nine days later, May 14, I secured si.\ 

 other negatives. This time I wanted closer 

 views. I used a tripod, a F. P. Kodak, 3 A. 

 with a portrait attachment — distance from 

 lens to nest two feet, eight inches. I 

 released the shutter by pulling a string 

 twenty feet long. 



I am sure that both parents brought 

 food to the nest, but they were so nearly 

 alike in plumage I could not be sure which 

 sex was under observation. 



The growth of the young was remark- 

 ably rapid. Hatched on May 5, they were 

 fully feathered on the nth and before 

 the i8th had flown. — Claude E. Tilton, 

 Fairmouiit, Ills. 



Juncos Feeding on the Wing 



At Hicksville, Long Island, N.,Y., at 

 noon on November 8, 1914, it was sunnj' 

 and warm with a light breeze. Many 

 beetles (Aphodius inquinatus and other 

 species) and small Diptera were flying 

 about over a newly tilled field where a 

 flock of Juncos was feeding. Every few 

 moments a Junco from some part of the 

 flock would leap with a flutter into the air 

 in pursuit of a passing fly or beetle. The 

 birds seemed to be successful at their fly- 

 catching tactics, which they repeated a I 

 such frequent intervals that the insects so 



captured must have made up a consider- 

 able fraction of their food. — R. C. Mitrphv 

 and J. T. Ntphols, A'cw Vnrk City. 



Evening Grosbeak at Glenview, Illinois 



On January 12, 1915, I observed a sin- 

 gle male Evening Grosbeak here. I saw 

 him several times during the morning of 

 that day, heard his call-note frequently, 

 and identified him closely. On February 

 3, I saw him again. I merely report the 

 presence of the species in this region, for 

 such interest or value as the record may 

 possess. — W. R. Caldwell, Glenview, IlL 



The Magpie in Iowa 



One of the most interesting records in 

 Iowa for Some time past is the occurrence 

 of the Magpie in the neighborhood of 

 Sioux City. 



On the morning of Oct. 31, 1914, while 

 just within the city limits, I noted one of 

 these birds flying with difficulty against a 

 rather strong wind, necessitating frequent 

 rests. As I went along the road, he fol- 

 lowed for almost a mile parallel to my 

 course, his many rests giving me several 

 good views of him. Again, a few hours 

 later, another bird flew overhead, allow- 

 ing just enough of a glimpse to tell that it 

 was a Magpie, while in another piece of 

 open woodland I suddenly came upon 

 five of them feeding on the ground in a 

 herd of cattle. They flew up into the 

 lower branches of neighboring trees, from 

 where they vigorously protested my pres- 

 ence as only a member of the Crow family 

 can, soon flying away to a distant wood- 

 land. 



This seems to be an unusual record for 

 this state. A careful survey of authorita- 

 tive works on the subject reveals no pub- 

 lished records of this bird in Iowa for over 

 twenty years, and seems to substantiate 

 the following statement of Anderson in 

 his 'Birds of Iowa' (p. 294): "There have 

 been no records of the occurrence of the 

 Magpie in Iowa during recent years, and if 

 any are taken they must be considered 

 as accidental stragglers from the north- 



