THE OSPRfi-^. 



n 



MY ROOKERY. 

 B\' A. M. NiCHoi^sox, Orlando, Fla. 



AST May I went on a fishing; trip about 

 40 miles from Orlando, and 

 knowing" that birds nested 

 there every year, I prepared 

 cag^es and took an extra 

 team to bring- some of them 

 back with me for a rookery 

 which I had arrang-ed for 

 them. When my party came 

 to the lake we found many- 

 birds, mostly Wood Ibises, but also (Cormorants. 

 Anhingas, Ospreys,and a few Great Blue Herons 

 On the evening of the fourth day I g-athered a 

 number of young- birds, which were quite larg-e 

 enoug-h to rear by hand, and next morning- I 

 started away with 14 W^ood Ibises, 7 Anhing-as, 

 and 3 Comorants. We were a full day on the 

 road, and it was very warm, but the cag-es being 

 made of mesh wire and covered with bushes to 

 shade the birds, they stood tlie trip well; I onlj- 

 lost one, that was trampled to death by the older 

 birds. It was no trouble to teach them to eat. 

 I made a large troug-h and kept it running full 

 of fresh water. After cutting the fish or beef 



up into small pieces, which the birds could swal- 

 low easily. I threw it to them, and also some into 

 the trough. They soon learned their lesson, 

 and no sooner did I rub my butcher knife on a 

 whet.sone than all their heads wete up. The 

 most interesting bird of the lot was one of the 

 Cormorants. As soon as I approached he would 

 come to me as hard as he could pitch, with both 

 wings raised, bowing at every step, and I would 

 toss the bits of meat to him; he would catch 

 them like a dog. seldom inis.-ing a peice. They 

 all grew to be beautiful specimens, the Ibises 

 especially, snow-white with bronze-green prim- 

 aries. I forwarded to the National Zoological 

 Gardens 2 pairs of Wood Ibises, an Anhinga, 

 and my pet Cormorant. I have had a great deal 

 of amusement out of these pets, they are inter- 

 esting- to watch, and comical sometimes, as 

 they bow to each other and keep up a continual 

 ••cahl cah I cah I" for some minutes, as if in 

 conversation, telling of having- been .stolen 

 from their parents and taken into a citv, where 

 they could not wade in the marsh to ca;ch craw- 

 fish, snakes, and young •■illigators. 



NE.STING OF LE CONTE'S SPARROW. 

 By G. F. DippiE, Toronto, Out. 



DURING the summer of 1S96, I again had the 

 good fortune to take an auiheuticated 

 nest and 5 eggs of this rare bird, securing 

 the female as she left the nest. My first ac- 

 quaintance with the species the past season, 

 was on June 8, when exploring a small lake 

 about 4 miles northwest of Red Deer, Alberta, 

 Canada. I came upon several birds, which by 

 their restless actions were uudoubtedly nesting, 

 in a section of "hay marsh" a few hundred 

 yards in circuuiferance in a corner of the lake. 

 I spent an hour or more in vain search, and be- 

 fore leaving the locality shot a specimen as it 

 clung to a tall weed keeping up a coutinuous 

 "chip, chip;'' it proved to be an adult male 

 A mmodiainus Iccoiiiei. 



Again, on June 14, when in camp at Burnt 

 Lake (previously called Swan Lake), I discov- 

 ered several pairs inhabiting another long nar- 

 row strip of marsh. I spent most of the day in 

 careful search, but with no success. After sup 

 per as evening was coming on and the mosqui- 

 tos were commencing to bite. I wandered over 

 to my "sparrow strip," and whilst carefully 

 quartering the ground, spied lying on the damp 

 earth between two tufts of grass a small egg 

 ■which I carefully picked up. It proved to be 

 perfectly fresh; when compared with the other 

 5 it appeared to belong to the same species. 



I postponed further search until morning, 

 when I determined to resume my "often tried 

 and seldom failed" tactics — to be up in the 

 morning at daybreak when the grass is soaking 

 with dew; the birds are then reluctant to leave 

 the nest. 



Next morning, the 15th, I was up shortly be- 

 fore five o'clock; it was a lovely morning, but 

 everything was as wet as after a heavy rain. A 

 few minutes brisk walking brought me on the 

 ground again, and truly fortune favored me; 

 for I had not walked more than 12 or 15 yards, 



when a little bird darted from almost under my 

 feet. It sped away, only to stop suddenlv when 

 some 30 yarils off, and alighted on a tall' weed. 

 In another moment the air rang to the report 

 of my gun and the bird dropped gently into the 

 grass. Letting my hat fall at my feet, I quickly 

 reached the spot but it took me fully five min- 

 utes to find the bird— in fact I was beginning 

 to have visions of a nest and eggs with no proof 

 of identification. But I found the little brown 

 body, which proved to be a female Le Coute's 

 Sparrow. There was not a mark of blood upon 

 it, for I am always plentifully supplied with 

 half charges of No. 12 shot when in the field, 

 and find it kills small specimens beautifully 

 clean. 



Returning to where I had left my hat, I com- 

 menced the search, and again was fortunate, 

 for I had hardly begun to turn over the grass 

 when the nest was revealed, built well into a 

 tuft of fine grass and carefully hidden from 

 sight. It contained five perfectly fresh eggs, of 

 a dull white ground color, mottled and spotted 

 with a peculiar shade of light brown, a yellow- 

 ish-brown; the markings in four of the eggs 

 being very dense at the large end. The ne'st 

 was composed entirely of fine grass, about 3;^ 

 inches in diameter and fairly deep. After being 

 removed I found the nest "difficult to keep to- 

 gether, it being carelessly constructed. 



The collector who would look for the nest of 

 this species must have much patience and per- 

 severence. I know of no other bird that has 

 tested my patience more than Le Coute's Spar- 

 row. They often run and then skulk in the 

 grass, keeping up an almost continuous "chip, 

 chip." I have seen the male at times clinging 

 to some weed or grass, giving his wheezy apol- 

 ogy for a song. I have heard the birds singing 

 after midnight on a fine warm night, but in the 

 early morning they are almost silent. 



