60 



THE OSPEEY. 



Goi.nEN Eagle in the Berkshike Hii.i.s. — 

 One of these mag-nificent birds was captured in 

 the Berkshires near Hancock, Mass., about 



Captive ( 



November 15th. It was cauf^'ht in a fo.xtrapby 

 a lOcal liunter, and is now in captivity at this 

 villag-e. — Bkntamin Hoag, Stcphentown, N. 

 v., Dec. 30///, 1897. 



Nesting of the Anhinga in Leon CorNTv, 

 Florida. — Tlie Anhinga, commonly called 

 Snake Bird and Water Turkey, is quite abund- 

 ant in this county. About S'i miles west of 

 Tallahassee lies a small cypress swamp, the 

 trees of which are quite small in comparison 

 with the immense ones found in some otlier 

 swamps of Leon County. The water is shallow, 

 only about 5 '4 feet in the deepest parts, so that 

 wading' is comparativelj' easy. The water, 

 furthermore, is so clear that the bottom is easily 

 seen. The main obstacles to rapid progress are 

 the numerous logs which lie on the bottom, and 

 are likely to trip up the collector if he is not 

 careful. But this is offset by the easy climb- 

 ing of the small trees. 



Mv first visit to this swamp was in April, 

 1893. There being no boat or other means of 

 reaching the heronry, a few rods beyond, I pro- 

 cured a stick and \\ aded in. Not far from shore 

 I found a hug-e nest, not more than 12 feet up, 

 and of course I climbed the tree to investigate. 

 There were three half-Hedg-ed Ward's Herons in 

 this nest. On nij- way down the tree I noticed 

 a rude structure, placed on the e.Ktreme end of 

 a limb, and saw that it coniained three white 

 eggs. These I pocketed, not knowing at the 

 time what they were. On arriving- at home, I 

 went to my cabinet, and on comparing- the eggs 

 with one I had purchased, I found that they 

 were those of the Anhinga. About 19 days 

 later I returned to the swamp and procured 

 another set of three, in the same nest I had found 

 before, tog-ether with a third set of four. Ne.xt 

 j'ear I took from the same swanip two sets of 

 three eggs, two of four, and two of five, one of 

 the latter containing the largest Anhinga eggs 

 I have ever seen. I thought at first they were 



Wood Ibis. In 1895, I again took several sets, 

 of three, four, and five. Next spring my An- 

 hing-a colony was less prcductive, as I only 

 found three sets, respectively of two, four, and 

 five eggs. 



The nests are composed of sticks, moss, and 

 trash, lined with cypress needles. Some are 

 quite shallow, others much deeper. They are 

 generally placed at the extreme end of a limb, 

 and thus are difficult to reach, although they 

 usually are not over 12 feet from the ground. I 

 am satisfied that if robbed the birds lay ag-ain 

 in the same nest or in one near by; and also 

 that they use old nests year after year if not 

 molested. The usual complement is three, but 

 often four, sometimes five. In one instance, a 

 second set taken from the same nest contained 

 more egg's than the first one. The period of 

 nesting ranges from the 1st of April to the lat- 

 ter part of June; but of course, when the date is 

 so late as June, the birds have been robbed of 

 earlier eggs. Anhingas have nested in this 

 same swamp for many years, but of late have 

 been so much disturbed that they are fast leav- 

 ing. It is a collector's paradise, in which, 

 within a space of about five acres, I have found 

 nests of Ward's, the Green, Snowy, Little Blue, 

 and Louisiana Herons. Reddish Egret, Least 

 -Bittern, Purple and Florida Gallinules, and 

 several species of land birds. Though I speak 

 in this article of no other locality for the An- 

 hinga, this bird also breeds in various other 

 parts. — R. W. Williams, Jr., I'alparaiso. Ind. 



Nesting OF the Carolina Wren — 

 How it "Panned Out." — The finest nest of this 

 bird I have yet seen was in a battered wash-pan 

 on the mantel in an old house used for storing- 

 machinery, where the pan had been used for 

 holding water to pour on a grindstone. The 

 nest completely filled the pan, was arched over 



How the Nest '-Pautied Out.' 



and built of leaves, weed-stems, rootlets, grasses 

 and a bunch of cotton twine — which shows 

 plainly in the accompanying' photograph — anfl 

 lined with hor.se-hair. It contained five nearly 

 fresh egg's which from the date (July 9, 1896) I 

 knew must be of a second or third laying, as I 

 had taken a fresh .set of six eggs on April IS 

 of that year. — J. H. Akmfield, Greensboro., N. 

 C.,Ffb.S, 1898. 



