320 



'JHE ()OL()(nS'J'. 



s|)eckkMl willi chesttnit, oue of them 

 h;(il :i tie.sh colored ground. There 

 wjis a Cow l/iid's egg .in the nest. 

 The nest\v:is tlic most beautiful of any 

 that I liiive ('\vv found of this species, it 

 was covrn-d nicely with lichens out- 

 wardly aii<l lined with fine grass and 

 hair. This bird is by no means rare in 

 thi.s county, vet its ucht is not foimd 

 vei'y often. 



June, 2—1 found a nest of the Blue- 

 winged Warbler's (IJdminthophila pin- 

 xis,) which contained three of its own 

 eggs, and" two of the Cowbird's, the 

 nest was placed on the ground at the 

 foot of a clump of may apples. It was 

 composed of leaves outwardly lined 

 witli ! air. This Cowbird {Mdlothrus 

 (iter) is a feathered culprit that ought 

 to be exterminated from- the feathered 

 tribe. It is seldom that I find a small 

 bird's nest without one or more of the 

 Cowbird's eggs in it. I have found, its 

 «ggs as early as April 26 and as late as 

 July 21. If the femalQ lays off and on 

 during all this time no wonder they in- 

 crease rapidly, and I see no reason to 

 prove that Ihey do not. I would like 

 to hear from others on this point. 



June, 14— I collected a set of four 

 light-blue eggs of the Wood 'I'hrush 

 {'['■Urdus muslelirws). The nest was 

 plated in a white oak about 20 ft. from 

 the ground near a running stream and 

 composed of leaves mixed with mn«l 

 and lined with liln'ous roots. This bird 

 is ((Uiie plentiful in certain localities in 

 ihis county. 



June, 10 — I secured *.i set of three 

 eggs of the Prairie Horned Lark, (Uto- 

 co?-'/.s «/p<'^'<''?^' ^e"coi'a'9»a) from a nest 

 placed by a hill of corn in a corn Held 

 and composed of grass lined with hair 

 and bits of wool. This bird is one of 

 the most interesting that has come im- 

 der my observations. It is very plen- 

 tiful, slaying with us all the year. It 

 nests from March to August. I found 

 a nest last year the first of April, which 

 contained three half-fledged birds, the 



next day tliere came quite a snow, the 

 next morning I went to see how the 

 nestlings were and behold! there 'was 

 Onlj' :\ lifeless Ijod}', and the nest desert- 

 ed. I have (>bser\ ed a habit that this 

 bird lias that I liave not seen descril)ed, 

 it is that of mounting in the air i)y re- 

 l)eated short llighls. and jxtising be- 

 lw(»en each and singing its little lays, 

 and when it descends it extends its 

 wings and drojjs like an arrow. Often 

 of a spring morniuw have I watched 

 this bird as it ascends and descends the 

 sky, as if overflowing with yyy. It on- 

 ly. does this in the early spring I think. 

 Aug., 2.")— I collected a set of four 

 eggs of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo's 

 {Coccyzus amcrii'anuii), from a nest 

 placed on a hoiizoutal limb of a white 

 Oiik, about 10 ff. from the ground and 

 composed of twigs very loosely put to- 

 gether, cv«!n so I could see the eggs 

 through the nest, in the October. 

 "Oologist"' Mr. Wake say's in his inte- 

 resting article 'Ould Lang Syne" "that 

 he found a Yellow-billed Cuckoo's nest 

 Aug. 17, 1893 and is that not very late?" 

 It is not for this locality, for most of 

 the nests that I hive found have been 

 in August although they nest in June 

 and July. You will often find .young 

 half-Hedged birds in tlie same nest 

 with fresh eggs, in fact I have not 

 found a nest that contained all fresh 

 eggs. 



Sept., IG- 1 secured a set of four 

 light blue eggs of the American Gold- 

 finch (Spiiii/s trislis),iyoii\ a nest placed 

 in a thistle and composed of gra^s, fine 

 rootlets, interwoven with cobwebs, 

 and was lined with wool, thistle down 

 etc. This is the latest bird to ne .'^t 

 we have in this county. 

 I am yours in the study of birds. 

 David L. Savage, 



Salem, Iowa. 



