THE OOLOQIST 



131 



thither; and the inevitable ringing 

 notes of the prothonatory warbler, 

 which one generally finds in these lo- 

 calities. 



In spite of much reclaimed bottom 

 land, the old Mississippi still offers a 

 happy hunting ground for the oolo- 

 gist. 



Theodore R. Greer, 



Aledo, Illinois. 



A FEW BIRD PROBLEMS. 



A cold, late spring caused our birds 

 much trouble. The Robin appeared 

 March 12th and Bluebirds soon after. 

 Song-sparrow and Meadow Larks 

 came about March 28th. At this 

 time it was very cold, the ground 

 frozen hard and some fine snow. 



On April 11th it snowed, and on 

 the 13th a Robin was discovered 

 building a nest in a locust tree close 

 by the house. 



They began by carrying four white 

 hen's feathers, six inches long, and 

 were trying to twine them together 

 into a nest, but they were stiff and 

 wiould not lay in right. After much 

 trying, they cast them out spitefully 

 and they fluttered to the ground. 



The next day was Sunday, cold and 

 windy and the Robins rested from 

 their labors; but on the 15th, the 

 very next morning they began with 

 those same feathers again, and re- 

 peated the attempts and then throw- 

 ing them out; trying some twigs and 

 rootlets also, they at last succeeded 

 in keeping them in the crotch of the 

 tree. 



We concluded that it was a very 

 hard task for a Robin to build with- 

 out mud, and that the lack of it was 

 a serious matter. The rain they 

 needed did not come until on the 

 20th, then the nest was completed. 



On April 25th I visited a swamp, 

 where I had been told birds came 



early. It was sunny, with a bleak 

 wind, and we suffered with the cold. 

 Trees were bare and leafless, herbage 

 scarcely started, and nothing very in- 

 viting for early comers. "We saw a few 

 male Redwinged Blackbirds, Meadow 

 Larks, Robins, a pair of wild Duck 

 and one lone Bluebird. By the 28th 

 the Robins seemed to have began in 

 a serious way to occupy their home, 

 and we thought that there must be 

 blue eggs up there. Anyway there 

 was a crow that came early at 5:30 

 in the morning to investigate. The 

 Robins had just passed by into the 

 garden, when through my bed-room 

 window I ?aw the thief descend, and 

 perch near the nest. My appearance 

 at the window and the lifting of the 

 white curtains seemed to firghten 

 him, and as he flew away another 

 •crow joined him. And the Robin 

 life went on happily again. 



Other birds arrived, the Purple 

 Finches, Gold Finches, Chipping 

 Sparrows, Baltimore Orioles, Red- 

 eyed Vireos, Maryland Yellow-throats, 

 and a Hummingbird, the latter seek- 

 ing food in the bell bed, where not a 

 single blossom was yet out, finally 

 at evening was seen in the cherry 

 tree where blooms were first appear- 

 ing. 



On May 8th a thundershower came, 

 and then a drop in temperature, with 

 snow on the 9th until roofs were 

 white. The Robins, much surprised, 

 but faithful sat tight all covered 

 with snow under the leaflets twigs of 

 the locust all through those snowy 

 hours. More snow fell the next day. 

 In spite of all set-backs, the Robins 

 hatched and grew, leaving the nest. 

 May 21st. 



Leda W. Chace, 

 Lawrenceville, Penna. 

 Tioga County. 



