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THE OOLOGIST 



rushes and reeds floating on the water, 

 but are very well made when compar- 

 ed with the unsteady structures erect- 

 ed by Grebes. From five to fifteen 

 eggs are laid. 



One nest found by a friend contain- 

 ed- an egg just like the others, but no 

 larger than an English Sparrow's egg. 

 ALEX. WALKER. 



The American Redstart. 



The American Redstart in Northern 

 New Jersey is a common summer resi- 

 dent, arriving about May 5th and re- 

 maining with us until October 1st. 

 Shortly after their arrival from the 

 south the pairs mate and commence 

 building homes and it is quite common 

 to find a number of their nests each 

 year. After the breeding and nesting 

 seasons are over and the young are 

 able to care for themselves, this min- 

 ute flycatching warbler may be found 

 at most any time pirouetting among 

 the branches of the lower shrubs and 

 trees or darting in pursuit of a pass- 

 ing insect and returning to its for- 

 mer perch to again take up its ever 

 restless search for subsistence. 



Their nesting sites, in this locality, 

 it has been my experience to find in 

 the lower growths of the elms, sassa- 

 fras, and alders. At times they will 

 locate in the higher trees, but not very 

 often as they usually prefer the lower 

 half of the trees. 



May 20, 1908, one pair of these bright 

 colored little warblers commenced 

 building a nest in an elm sapling along 

 the main thoroughfare of Bloomfield, 

 N. J. This nest when completed 

 three days later, was a beautiful, cup- 

 shaped structure consisting principal- 

 ly of slender twigs and dried grasses 

 overlain with plant down and spider 

 webs and lined with horsehair and 

 plant down, and was cradled near the 



trunk of the sapling on a horizontal 

 branch. 



The first egg was laid on the sec- 

 ond day after completion and an egg 

 each day was deposited for four days 

 thereafter. On the morning of the 

 seventh day, the nest was visited and 

 found to contain but four Redstart 

 and an egg of the parasitic Cowbird. 

 The other egg had apparently been 

 broken and the shell carried off by 

 the parents, as nothing remained but 

 some slight yolk stains. The egg of 

 the Cowbird I removed and left the 

 little mother only her own eggs to care 

 for. The male was found on the nest 

 on the eighth and twelfth days and at 

 other times a short distance off gaily 

 singing and searching for food for his 

 patient little mate which he often, 

 visited with some dainty morsel. 



On the fifteenth day the eggs hatch- 

 ed and for a week after, the parents 

 kept the youngsters well supplied with 

 food. At this time the male fell prey 

 to a house cat and the female was left 

 alone to satisfy the ever increasing 

 hunger cf her offspring. 



On the twelfth day after hatching, 

 the young left the nest. All of these 

 were but partly feathered at this 

 time, but by the twentieth day after 

 birth began to look out for themselves 

 with their mother. 



One of the youngsters developed a 

 number of white feathers during its 

 oarly life, but by the middle of July 

 these had disappeared and its normal 

 plumage had appeared. The brood re- 

 mained in the vicinity until August 

 second, when they disappeared and 

 were not seen again. 



This is the only nest I ever located 

 at Bloomfield N. J., but have found 

 numerous families from time to time 

 throughout the northern half of the 

 state in the more rural districts. 



LOUIS S. KOHLER. 

 Bloomfield, N.J. 



