THE OOLOGIST. 



55 



nest wit J 4 yoimg ati d in the course of 

 the afternoon my friend secured a set 

 of 5 eggs in whicli incubation was ad- 

 vanced. Altogether there must have 

 been ten pairs of these warljlers i) reed- 

 ing in an area of 1 square mile as I saw 

 at least that n .mber feeding young 

 birds in trees in the bog about June 19. 

 This is the ouly place hereabouts that 

 I know of where the bird breeds and 

 possible the only place in the State as I 

 can tind no authentic record of the 

 nest and eggs having been taken in the 

 State. If any one else knows of in- 

 stances of its breeding in Maine I 

 woulii be i)leased to hear from them 

 Ora. W. Knight. 

 Bangor, Maine. 



Collecting Black Vulture Eggs. 



The Black Vulture (Cathnrles atratus) 

 is much more abundant in this vicinity, 

 Montgomery Co., Tennessee, than its 

 first cousin, the Turkey Vulture 

 (Cathartes aura.) In fact, I have rarely 

 observed the latter, while there is 

 scarcely a day passes in which I do not 

 notice the former. 



This county is crossed by the Cum- 

 berland river which has formed numer- 

 ous and large limestone bluffsa long its 

 course. The most of these blufts have 

 "caves" or holes running back into 

 them, some only two or three feet deep 

 others deeper. It is in these "caves" 

 that the Black Vulture usually deposits 

 its eggs, though some times they are 

 found under an overhanging ledge of 

 rock. As a general rule they do noX go 

 far into the Ijluff, but lay near the 

 entrance of the hole, just far enough 

 inside to be sheltered ijy the rock. 



Audubon, in his "Birds of America," 

 states that a "prostrate log or excava- 

 tion in a bank of earth, suffices the 

 Black Vulture as a nesting place," 



Davie, in his "Nests and P^ggs of 

 North American Birds," states its breed- 

 ing place to be "in hollow log.s, decay- 



ed trunks of trees, ptunips, and on the 

 ground." 



Audubon's statement agrees with this 

 locality better than Davie's, though 

 neither mention caves or rockj^ bluffs. 

 In this part of the country they are 

 never known to ' nest in any other 

 place. I have never found a nest nor 

 heard of one being found away from 

 the river. There is a bluff five miles 

 below this city, Clarksville, on the river 

 Avhich is said to be the breeding place of 

 a regular colony of the birds. It is call- 

 ed the "Retl Rocks" and is a tremen- 

 dous bluff literally tilled with caves. I 

 have never been there during the breed- 

 ing season but have passed the place in 

 a boat later in tlie summer and from 

 the large flocks of young Vultures seen 

 on the banks of the river in that vicinity, 

 I am inclined to believe it the breeding 

 place of many birds. It is a very hard 

 bluff to climb, but, nevertheless, I in- 

 tend to try it, with the assistances of 

 a good rope, during the coming season. 



The coUectingof V^ulture eggs on these 

 bluff's is quite dangerous. A slip of the 

 foot, or any other slight mishap is liable 

 to be attended by serious consequences. 

 I will describe some my trips after their 

 eggs. 



With us the Vulture nests from the 

 middle of March to the first of Ma^-. 

 By reference to my note book for 1892, 

 I see that my first set for the year was 

 taken April 5th. I had noticed a pair 

 of birds about this bluff, which was just 

 across the river and not more than a 

 third of a mile fron; town, for some 

 time, and had decided that they had a 

 nest there. My belief was strengthened 

 by knowing that one of my fellow col- 

 lectors found a nest there the previous 

 year, and in this region, the birds fre- 

 (juently occupy the same caves fi-om 

 one year to another. So on the after- 

 noon of the above mentioned day, I 

 went with a companion to investigate 

 this Ijluff. After walking about the 

 foot of it some time, the old bird Hew 



