8 



THE OOLOGIST. 



and stooping down, guided bj- my dog's 

 nose, I soon discovered her single egg. 

 This was my tirst specimen, but later, both 

 on the more northern Washerwomen, on 

 Galden Key and on the Ship Channel Keys, 

 I found several other eggs. The time of 

 breeding with this species, when undisturbed 

 is about the middle of May, and the eggs 

 are invariably deposited under rocky slabs, 

 often so far under that they could not be 

 reached with our arms . Unlike the Sooty 

 and Noddy Terns, this species is quite shy> 

 and only in one or two instances was I 

 enabled to capture the bird on the nest. 

 Then I came upon the bird siiddenly, with- 

 out its having been aware of my approach. 



The eggs of the Bridled Tern are, on an 

 average, smaller than those of the Sooty, 

 and are not usually as pinkish nor as 

 coarsely spotted, but vary somewhat in this 

 respect, Out of some twenty specimens 

 which I collected, only four or five were as 

 large as the smallest Sooty, and about the 

 same number were coarsely spotted, and 

 only two or three were of the decidedly 

 pinkish shade seen in the ground color of 

 the Sooty Tern. 



The Bridled Terns are not uncommon on 

 the isolated outer keys of the Bahamas, but, 

 owing to the comparatively inaccessible 

 character of the rocky islets which they 

 frequent, the eggs will probably never be 

 common in collections. — yVi-t' Y(»tn;i Orni- 



tJiohgist. 



Wood Thrush and Brown Thrasher 

 in West Virginia. 



Wood Thrush, (Hylociclda miistdltm)- 

 This bird, common here during Summer, 

 frequents tracts of low woods, and is very 

 shy and their nests are very hard to find. 

 It was my good fortune, last season, to se- 

 cure two nests of this Thrush each 

 containing four eggs 



One nest, found May 22ud, contained 

 four eggs, three of them being spotted; this 

 nest, placed on the upright crutch of a 

 swamp oak, two feet from the ground, was 

 cf)mposed of leaves and grasses, and lined 



with mud and fine rootlets. I he bird sat 

 on the nest until I apj^roached within arms- 

 length of her when she left it and alighted 

 on a bush a few rods distant, from where 

 she watched me very attentively only giv- 

 ing an occasional hiss of alarm. The eg.s 

 are dotted all over with small black spots 

 the size of a pin head ; they are of the usual 

 size measuring 1 x .75 inches. 



Late in the evenings and early in Ihe 

 mornings of early spring and summer, this 

 bird's song may be heard in some lonely 

 woodland like the soft notes of a flute or 

 the tinkling of silver bells ; this is, in my 

 estimation, the sweetest songster among 

 North American Birds. It has been, aptly 

 termed, "Flute- bird'". 



Brown Thrasher, (ILirporhyncluis 7-vfv.s). 

 Of all our spring birds none can excel in 

 power of song our common Brown Thrasher 

 or " M«3ckiug-bird. " During the early days 

 of spring he may be seen, perched on some 

 bush pouring forth his soul-stirring notes 

 in one continued strain, and he does not 

 stop at once either, but continues his song 

 hour after hoi;r. I've sat for hours 

 listening to this wonderful mimicker, won- 

 dering how long it would taka him to split 

 his throat, and I have never tired either 

 and think I never shall. There does'ut ' 

 seem to be a bird or an animal beyond his 

 powers of mimickry. The scream of the 

 hawk, the chirp of the sparrow and the 

 warbling notes of V. (jilva are all familiar 

 notes of this great mimicer. 

 It is very common here during the breeding 

 season and its nests can be found almost 

 anywhere, old log heaps, brush jjiles, fence 

 rows, thickets of grape vines and thorn 

 bushes all being nesting places of this bird. 

 Nests are also occrsionally found on the 

 ground at the foot^ot a bush; the nests are 

 generally composed of twigs, stiiks and 

 leaves, and lined with rootlets, horsehair 

 and a few feathers; but when nests are 

 found on the ground they are simjile depres- 

 sicms, lined wah rootlets. The eggs, laid 

 here, in May and June are from four to six 

 in number and are greenish -white thickly 

 marked with reddish-brown dots, averaging 

 in size 1 x .SO inches with variations both in 



