THE OOLOGIST 



111 



NESTING OF THE GOLDFINCH IN 

 1922 IN NEW JERSEY. 



During the breeding season of 1922 

 in Northern New Jersey, the writer 

 was fortunate enough to locate three 

 homes of the American Goldfinch (As- 

 tragalinus tristis). 



The first nest was found in Rich- 

 field, near Valley Road, on Van Houten 

 avenue, on July 15th. in a wild cherry 

 adjacent to the roadside and con- 

 tained on discovery a set of two eggs. 

 On the 19th this set was complete with 

 five eggs, and fourteen days after the 

 young emerged from the shells and 

 the fond parents succeeded in rearing 

 these fledglings until the time of 

 flight when all disappeared from the 

 vicinity. Bands No. 1706 to No. 1710 of 

 the A. B. B. A. were placed on these 

 nestlings before they left the nest. I 

 placed these bands because those from 

 the U. S. Department of Agriculture 

 which I ordered several times did not 

 arrive and up to the present have not 

 been received. 



The second nest was found on July 

 18th, in Little Falls, Passaic county, 

 and contained a clutch of four eggs. 

 This nest was located about twelve 

 feet up in a pear tree in an orchard 

 near the Browerton road. The eggs 

 of this set were of a much paler blue 

 than those of the first set and were 

 slightly larger. They averaged .68x..55, 

 whereas the first clutch averaged .62.5 

 X..50. As this second set was so nearly 

 incubated I am led to believe they 

 hatched in a day or two after, as when 

 the nest was next visited, on the 25th, 

 the young were well developed. 



The third nest was located op Au- 

 gust 1st, at Montclair Heights, in a 

 clump of alders near the State Nor- 

 mal School, with the young ready for 

 flight. The young took to the wing 

 when I endeavored to clamber up to 

 observe them. This braod consisted 

 of six, the largest I have ever located. 



I tried to capture some of them to 

 band them, but was unsuccessful. 



Louis S. Kohler. 



THE MEETING TREE. 



A dense forest extends for miles 

 each way along the north bank of the 

 Trinity River, four miles east of Fort 

 Worth. In the forest is a bare spot, 

 say two hundred feet each way, and 

 in the middle of this spot stands a 

 dead Spanish oak. 



While squirrel hunting at day break 

 one morning, I came upon this tree; 

 I sat down at the edge of the woods 

 and watched the tree. At one time I 

 could see dozens of birds of different 

 kinds come and light in the tree, 

 chirp around, say hello to each other 

 and depart in search of their daily 

 feed. As this was the only open space 

 where they could meet and get the 

 morning light, I have named it the 

 "Meeting Tree." Everything from a 

 Chickadee up to a Turkey Vulture 

 paid this old tree a visit. 



1922 notes. Ramon Graham, 



Ft. Worth, Tex. 



The Florida Gallinule In Philadelphia, 

 Pa., In Winter. 



I have in my possession the skin of 

 a Florida Gallinule that was cap- 

 tured alive on February 12, 1913, by 

 my brother, George, at Richmond, 

 Philadelphia, Pa. It was an adult male 

 and was a wounded individual left 

 behind in the migration, as it was un- 

 able to fly but several yards, and in 

 skinning it I found a number six shot, 

 badly smashed, lodged in the big mus- 

 cle of the right wing. It was quite 

 emaciated, and its stomach con- 

 tained about a thimblefull of freshly 

 eaten sand and fine gravel; its intes- 

 tines contained some greenish-colored 

 lifiuid. 



George captured the bird on a sandy 

 beach along the Delaware River, at 



