182 



THE OOLOGIST. 



We had barely penetrated the woods 

 when I heard him yell. There he was 

 high as possible in the branches of a 

 fallen tree while on the ground beneath 

 was coiled a rattle snake. This spoiled 

 him for nest finding as during the 

 remainder of the day he dared not let 

 his eyes wander from the ground. 

 However, he found two nests— a red- 

 starts' by stumbling against the sap- 

 ling and causing madam to flutter 

 past his ear and an ovenbird's. The 

 latter flushed in the thickest kind of 

 second growth and, owing to the deep 

 shade, was so snake like that she had 

 hardiy started in one direction when 

 Mike was headed in the opposite. But 

 to detail all of Mike's mishaps would 

 leave space for nothing else so we will 

 dispense with him, merely mentioning 

 his impression of this woods. He de- 

 clares it a combination of tangled 

 vegetation, fallen logs, stinging nettle, 

 poisin ivy, mosquitoes and rattle 

 snakes and is willing to swear before 

 a notary that these mosquitoes weigh 

 a pound each and have bills a foot long 

 and were anyone to ask him what it is 

 that a man is always looking for in 

 the woods but never wants to find he 

 would promptly exclaim, snakes! 



The above gives a fair idea of this 

 woods except that I have seen no mos- 

 quitoes quite so large as Mike's. It is 

 a favorite collecting ground and here, 

 on the above date, I secured my first 

 set of Cerulean Warbler. It is doubt- 

 ful if more than two or three pairs nest 

 in this 50 acres. Every suitable tree 

 was carefully inspected and none of 

 the birds were seen except at their 

 nests. The location is Grosse Pointe 

 Township, Wayne county and all the 

 following is referable to this woods. 



Nest 1— While looking up Black 

 and White Warblers on May 27, 1900 

 found a nest of Cerulean. It was in 

 thick woods on fork of horizontal red 

 oak branch 40 feet up and four feet 

 from main trunk. Female on nest 



and nearly touehfed her before she 

 flew. Was raining hard at time which 

 possibly explains her reluctlance to 

 leava. No eggs had deen deposited 

 and was unable to revisit nest that 

 season. 



Nest 3 — Was searching for nests 

 of Goldenwinged Warblers in wild 

 clearing of luxuriant plant growth on 

 June 18, 1902 when a female Cerulean 

 was detected gathering nesting mater- 

 ial. Followed her to an elm standing 

 well out in the clearing. Nest placed 

 in loop formed by a limb sweeping 

 downward and turning up near the 

 end. Was saddled to bare limb 

 without other support, fully 50 

 feet above ground and 20 from main 

 trunk. Returned two weeks later but 

 severe wind and rain storms had des- 

 troyed it. 



Nest 3— Found June 22, 1902. 

 Several little sprouts, about 5 inches 

 long, grew from the side of a large 

 white oak limb about 7 feet from main 

 trunk and 25 above ground. The nest 

 rested upon these and against limb 

 and contained two young about ten 

 days old. Tree about 50 feet inside 

 border of thick woods. 



Nest 4 — The Ceruleans were slated 

 for especial attention during the pre- 

 sent season of 1904. It was for this 

 purpose I made the trip on June 5. 

 Spent the entire day looking for their 

 nests and Mike for snakes — both were 

 successful. Two old nests were first 

 discovered — 20 feet up oak and 35 up 

 elm. The new nest was in white 

 oak amid thin scattering of trees 

 through wild clearing grown to small 

 second growth and surrounded by 

 heavy timber and was placed upon 

 horizontal crotch 40 feet up and four 

 feet from main trunk. It contained 

 four fresh eggs and was so well con- 

 cealed as to resemble a black spot. 

 Madam would have retained her 

 treasure had not a well directed stick 

 struck the limb and flushed her. 



