53 



THE OOLOGIST. 



partially obsnured. I waited to secure 

 the birds, but cculd get but one — the 

 female. 



My next prize was a nest of the Wood 

 Thrush, which was placed six feet from 

 the ground in a white oak sprout. The 

 locality was secluded, the nest was 

 composed of twigs, dead grass, grape 

 vine bark, 'dead leaves, and lined with 

 .mud and rootlets. There were two 

 eggs, considerably rounded at the ends, 

 and of a beautiful bluish-green color. 

 As these eggs were fi'esh, I concluded 

 that the set was incomplete. 



The Wood oi Song Thrush is one of 

 my favorite birds, and I like to listen 

 to its clear bell-like note, which is usu- 

 ally uttered from the top of some forest 

 tree, in the early morning, or on a 

 cloudy day. 



The regularity with which this bird 

 arrives from the south is very remarka- 

 ble. My record of its arrival for three 

 consecutive years is as follows: May 9, 

 1879, May 8, 1880, May 9, 1881. 



While on my way home, I happened 

 to pass through a i^asture where juni- 

 pers grow here and there. From a 

 small tree, I Hushed a Black- throated 

 Green Warbler. Near the butt, and 

 three feet from the ground, I discovered 

 the nest. It was a neat and compact 

 structure, fabricated of grass and root- 

 lets tinelv interlaced and lined with 

 brake-down, and white horse hair. Ly- 

 ing within the concavity of the nest 

 were four eggs of a delicate pink color, 

 dotted and blotched with purplish- 

 brown and Vandyke, vvhile^FM; ve>'y no- 

 ticable ring of confluent marks encir- 

 cled their larger ends. Later in the 

 season I discovered a second nest in 

 this same pasture, but in another tree. 

 It contained young, and it was proljab- 

 ]y built l)y the same birds, as the struct- 

 ure described above. 



My last nest that dny, was a j)rize to 

 me, as it was my lirst of the kind. It 

 was discovered on the upper side of an 

 oak lim'>. wliich grew horizontally over 



a cart path. M3' eyes fell on it acciden- 

 tally, and at lirst I was uncertain to 

 what species it belonged, but upon 

 climbing the tree, the female bird flew 

 off, and I recognized the Scarlet Tana- 

 ger. The nest was very loosely made 

 of dead twigs, and lined with fibrous 

 roots and pine needles. It contained 

 three greenish-blue eggs dotted with 

 puri)lish-brown, the marks being thick- 

 er at the larger ends. 



I arrived home tired, but well pleased 

 with the birds and eggs collected, the 

 more common kinds, of which, I have 

 not taken space to describe. 



Charles L. Phillips, 



Taunton, Mass. 



Winter Collecting or Something About Owls. 



The near approach of the collecting 

 season, reminds me, that it is time to 

 inquire, "Mr. Farmer, did you ever find 

 an Owl's nest, or did you ever see on 

 the ground at the base of a tree, little 

 balls of hair and bones?" and not infre- 

 quentlv do I receive from the one to 

 whom I have propounded this query, a 

 reply in the affirmitive, then, if you 

 were to see my note book you Avould 

 read, "Jan. 16, '93, go 21 miles on new 

 pike to Moaf Turner's, then down 

 through the lane, and follow the path 

 to a big rock at the bend of the creek, a 

 beach tree 25 or 30 yards to the south- 

 east, an owl's nest," or a nest of my own 

 discovery, reads: "Dec. 22, '92, flushed a 

 Barred Owl from a l)each tree 582 steps 

 from south .side of old gravel pit, 

 Elliott's woods." I have 6 nests spot- 

 ted so far this season, and of the 13 

 nests heard of last season I took 4 sets 

 and found one nest of 5 young screeeh- 

 ers, in a sugar tree one side of which 

 had a hole large enough for me to easily 

 insert mj' hand, but I immediately re- 

 moved the afore said egg grabber. 

 Fiualy mustering up courage I tried it 

 again, with the above result. 



