THE OOLOGIST. 



59 



proved to be a male Connecticut War- 

 bler. As I went on a small bird sud- 

 denly sprang up from one of the grave- 

 like mounds. It seemed distressed, 

 and ran along like a Plover when 

 alighting, but on seeing that I would 

 not be decoyed away, it ran round me 

 in the same attitude. Recognizing 

 that it was the female Connecticut 

 Warbler, I shot it, and then sought 

 out the nest in the moss. This was 

 entirely composed of dry grass and 

 sunk level with the surface of the 

 mound. The eggs, four in number, 

 measured .75x.56 of an inch. Before 

 being blown they were of a delicate 

 creamy-white hue, with a few spots of 

 lilac purple, brown and black, inclined 

 to form a ring at the large end. This 

 nest with the parent birds were sent to 

 the Smithsonian Institute museum, 

 Washington." 



Dr. Coues, in giving the range of 

 this bird, says: 



"Eastern United States, not com- 

 monly observed in the spring, abund- 

 ant in the fall in some localities, a shy 

 inhabitant, of brushwood and thicket. 

 Distribution, migration and breeding 

 habits still imperfectly known." 



— W. L. Kells, in Guelph Daily Her- 

 ald. "iVo^fs from Thicket and Swamp.'' ' 

 Feb. 5, J 904. 



Hairy Woodpecker in Illinois. 



Back in 1900 r April 24th to be exact,) 

 I was homeward bound, after spending 

 a day with the Hawk's in Salt Fork 

 timber. In the last row of trees bor- 

 dering the woods, stood a small, dead 

 sapling stump. Five feet from the 

 ground I noticed a small, round hole, 

 while freshly scattered chips lay on 

 the ground below. "A Downy," 

 thought I, "at least two weeks too early 

 for a full set." Thinking it useless to 

 chip in and ruin a future Downy 

 home, I turned to retrace my steps. 

 A slight rustle arrested me and as it 

 seemed to orginate in the stump, I de- 



cided to investigate. A long twig in- 

 serted in the hole received such a 

 thump that I could feel the force at 

 the other end. "A Nuthatch" quoth 

 I, and while chopping away at the en- 

 trance, I reviewed the many accounts 

 I had read of plucky little "carolinen- 

 sis" remaining at her post until pull- 

 ed out. Eight inches down I came to 

 the bottom of the cavity and was sur- 

 prised to find a Hairy Woodpecker, 

 with flashing eyes, ready to defend 

 her four pearly treasures. She clung 

 with pugnacious desperation when I 

 lifted her off the eggs, and exhibited 

 no terror whatever. During a more 

 extended acquaintance with "villosus" 

 covering the intervening seasons, I 

 have found this to be a habit while in- 

 cubation was taking place. While 

 covering a complete set of eggs, (my 

 experience tells me,) it is next to im- 

 possible to flush a female Hairy from 

 her nest. When the young were 

 hatched however, mama and papa 

 "villosus" are especially active and 

 an observer can hardly approach near 

 enough to tap the tree before a parent 

 Hairy appears at the entrance. How 

 many of my readers have passed one 

 of those likely-looking, freshly-cut 

 cavities after giving a careless tap 

 with the hatchet, only to be surprised 

 upon the next visit to hear the sharp, 

 metallic "chink" of the elder, and 

 the chirping chorus of the hungry 

 young Hairy Woodpeckers clamoring 

 for food? 



May not these habits of "villosus" 



partly explain why Lattin lists their 



eggs at 50c and why we so seldom 



find sets of 393 in the exchange lists? 



Isaac E. Hess, 



Philo, nis. 



King Rail, A. 0. U. No. 208, 



(Rail us elegans.) 

 June 14th, 1903, I was out driving in 

 the vicinity of Fisher, 111., and visited 



