24 



THE OOLOGIST. 



which had dropped nearly all its limbs 

 seemed to be the favorite perch for the 

 nest. Most of the nests were merely 

 saddled on one limb, up close to the body 

 of the tree. and they ranged in size from 

 two feet in diameter to huge piles of 

 sticks as large as those of the Bald 

 Eagle. 



In a distance of al)0ut 50 miles 1 found 

 30 nests, which was a good many as I 

 went in a straight line south and ran 

 across these right in my path. The 

 nests were alwaj's situated near a strip 

 of maish or a pond. 



All the nests had young at this time 

 and from their size I think they, the 

 nests, must have contained eggs by the 

 first of April or middle of March. 



What surprised me was to find these 

 birds building so far inland, away from 

 even any large body of fresh water. 

 But this section is not only represented 

 b^' the (V'<i)rey, for the Naptorci are 

 well distributed through several species, 

 and, strangely, very few of any other 

 varieties of birds. 



It was on this trip that I obtained my 

 first set of Meadow Lark and a set of 

 what I firmly believe is the Cuban Mar- 

 tin. I took a set of this last from an 

 old woodpeckei'"s hole in a dead pal- 

 metto stub about ten feet up. The 

 eggs were three in number, pure white 

 and were laid on rotten chips at bottom 

 of hole; the Martins are very abundant 

 in that section and seem to nest almost 

 exclusively in dead palmetto stubs. 



My set of Meadow l^ark's eggs was 

 found accidently by my mule nearly 

 stepping on the nest. It was a beauti- 

 ful marked set of four fresh .-jCggs. 



It was in this same strip of desolate 

 marsh country that I found my first 

 nest of the Pilealed Woodpecker, the 

 hole was dug in an old palmetto stub 

 only five and one-half feet from the 

 ground and contained three full fiedged 

 young. I came very near having one 

 of my eyes picked out by one of the 

 greedy y<)uugslers as 1 stood staring 

 into the hole. 



Ou our return to the banks of the 

 Indian River we campetl for three 

 weeks and we improved our time by 

 more extensive tramps, my compan- 

 ions went fishing while I and a young 

 man who was pressed into service 

 hunted the reedy l)og for Bitterns and 

 (iallinules. 



This was also the first time my eyes 

 ever saw into a Least Bitterns or Gal- 

 linules nest. 



We found ten sets of the Least Bit- 

 tern, two of the Florida Gallinule and 

 one of the Purple Gallinule. 



The Bitterns nests were built about 

 three feet from the water in thick clus- 

 ters of rushes, while the Gallinules 

 made a fioating nest of dead rushes and 

 made a beautiful sight. The sets 

 ranged from 5 to 8 per nest and were 

 nearly incubated at this time. I took a 

 good many other notes, but will leave 

 them for some other time. 



WiLLAKD Eliot, 

 Tampa, Fla. 



Notes Prom Isabella Co-, Mich- 

 Last spring my time was so much 

 occupied by getting properly settled 

 and at work in this new place that the 

 collecting season was about over be- 

 fore I could pay much tUtention to Or- 

 nithology or Oology. However during 

 my daily labors, my eyes and ears were 

 ever open to the sights and sounds of 

 bird life in this wild, beautiful and 

 wierd locality. 



At times Avhen weaiy and tired of 

 toiling to supply the Avants of myself 

 and family. I have been cheered to 

 new vigor by the thrilling songs of our 

 feathered friends who seem never to 

 despair under any circumstances, and 

 when seeing daily the parent birds in- 

 dustriously gleani.ig food for their 

 young I have l)een led to reflect that 

 the God of Nature wdio so bountifully 

 provides for his feathered creatures 

 has not neglected to provide as abund- 



