202 



THE OOLOGIST 



ed Vireos, possibly mates, in the wil- 

 low trees along a stream running 

 through the Leake pasture. I watched 

 them through my glasses for at least 

 twenty minutes. Now and then they 

 sang a very sweet little song much 

 like that of the Red-eyed Vireo but 

 more subdued. There were several 

 other species and numerous individ- 

 uals congregated in these willows and 

 nearby trees and underbrush at the 

 same time that I observed the Vireos. 

 They all seemed to be animated by 

 the migration 'n<5tinct, though some of 

 the Sparrows no doubt will remain in 

 that locality throughout the winter. 



Of the Warblers only the Myrtle was 

 seen and it was very abundant. I was 

 deceived for a few moments one after- 

 noon when I saw several small birds 

 in the distance sallying forth from the 

 top branches of some poplar tree in 

 the manner of Flycatchers. I dis- 

 covered that they were Myrtle Warb- 

 lers. 



1 heard Pipits only once. 



Mockingbirds were common. 



I was much pleased to find the Caro- 

 lina Wren in fair abundance. On sev- 

 eral mornings one or more of them de- 

 lighted my ears just outside of the 

 windows of my bedroom with their, to 

 me, wild and charming "chiteree, 

 chiteree, chiteree, chit." 



One of the most interesting dis- 

 coveries made during my visit was the 

 presence of Brown-headed Nuthatches. 

 I saw and heard three in the pine and 

 oak woods back of the Leake resi- 

 dence. This must be very nearly if 

 not quite the northernmost range of 

 this species. Several White-breasted 

 Nuthatches were around the planta- 

 tion at all times. 



Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Tit- 

 mice were nearly always to be seen. 



Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned 

 Kinglets were in the woods during the 

 early hours of morning, the latter 



literally in enormous abundance; they 

 were very nearly as abundant as I 

 once found the Ruby-crowned King- 

 lets in the hammock near the Gulf of 

 Mexico in Wakulla County, Florida. 



Robins and Bluebirds were abundant, 

 the latter sometimes feeding on the 

 berries of the dogwood trees. I heard 

 a Hermit Thrush on October 28. 



My visit was extremely pleasant in 

 every way. There were many things 

 aside from birds to engage my atten- 

 tion and interest. For instance, I 

 found only one red squirrel thus in- 

 dicating that this species is not at all 

 abundant in this section. One of the 

 pleasantest features of my visit was a 

 bountiful stag supper given me and 

 other visitors at the Leake home by 

 Messrs. David and Richard Harris, 

 bachelors who have followed the ag- 

 ricultural profession on their planta- 

 tion for about fifty years. The sup- 

 per was served very tastefully by old 

 aunt Martha, a negro servant of ante- 

 bellum accomplishments, who has 

 been with the Harrises for fifty years. 

 I have never seen Quail cooked and 

 served so deliciously as they were at 

 this supper. The table was actually 

 groaning from variety and abundance 

 of good things to eat, practicaly all 

 produced on this plantation. 



Robert W. Williams, 

 Washington, D. C. 



