THE OOLOGIST. 



171 



Nesting nf the Cuckoo. 



Siiirc I Ix'Ciiiuc :i siil)scriln'i' ti> llic 

 OoLOGIST I k;i\t' iiccoiiic niorc deeply 

 iuU'ivsk'd in Ihr study (if liinls luid 

 tht'ir lialiits, ('.s])('ci;i!!.\' llii()Ut!,li the 

 nesting season. The soil and t'limate, 

 tile hills and \aileys of ^^■l•nlont, ati'oi'd 

 a most excellent ])lace foi' tlie nesting 

 and breeding of our feadiered tribes. 

 On the t>:)tli day of I\Iay, 'SD, I started 

 out for a two hour's \\'ali<, thinking, 

 ])ei-haps, I might tind sonu'thing of in- 

 terest to aild to uiy eolleetion. 1 fol- 

 hjwed a small stream for '20 or oO rods, 

 elos(dy examining the elnmjis of wil- 

 lo\',s and alders as I ))assed and i)i'es- 

 enlly saw a cuckoo silting on her nest, 

 about three rods in advance. I ap- 

 l)i()aehcd the nest as cautiously as ])os- 

 sible so as to obtain a good view of the 

 bird Ijefore sh.e flew. There were thi'ee 

 greenish-blue eggs of uniform si/e and 

 color and of the same si/e at both ends. 

 The nest was placed in a clump of ald- 

 ers about three feet from the gi'ound 

 and was composed of dry twigs, leaves 

 and fil)res. It was 4^ iiu-hes in diame- 

 ter, Avith only | of an inch depression. 

 On blowing two of the eggs were 

 perfect!}' fresh, v>iiile the embryo in the 

 tliinl was at least one-third dev(d()ped, 

 ail incident I have iiescr met with be- 

 fore. C';in an}' oiu' give an explana- 

 tion y S. ('. Wheklkk, 



W'aterlniry Centre, Vt. 



[A very common occurrt'Uce with the 

 Cuckoos. — Ed. J 



A Nest of the American Woodcock 



The American Woodcock, one of our 

 game bii'ds, is becoming \'ery scarce in 

 this locality. South Eastern Pennsyl- 

 vania, and theii- nests ,ire \-ery hard to 

 find. While out collecting the 20th day 

 of A])ril, last spring, '89, I took my lirst 

 set. They arrive here the hitter ])art of 

 March and from three to four Avei^ks 



later the}' are nesting. I .was crossing a 

 1 )W wet piece of woods and had just 

 juni])(Ml across a little sti'cam when I 

 flushed a bird ver\' t-lose to my feet. 

 Not seeing any nest, and knowing 

 something of the habit of this l)ird, 1 

 stood ill my tracks and watched the re- 

 treating foi'in of that bird. She Hew 

 but a short distance and drojjped into a 

 patch of ferns out of sight. I then 

 glanct'd around nie and by close looking 

 soon discovered the nest. It was simply 

 a little hollow in a raised bunch of 

 leaves, about four inches in diameter. 

 It coiitained four eggs — beauties. Eggs 

 that would till most collectors with a 

 thrill of delight. The ground color was 

 but!', spotted and i)lotclied with shades 

 of brown about the larger end. They 

 nieasurcfl 1.40 x l.'J."), and were perfect- 

 ly fresh. J. P. J., 

 Kelton.Pa. 



Murderous Sparrows. 



One niorniiig in early spring, as I 

 was sitting under an apple tree in my 

 b;u'k yard, I noticed a number of sjjar- 

 rows flying aliout a tree fn which a 

 blue-bird had taken up her abode four 

 or li\e weeks ])i'e\ious. Her young 

 wer<' almost reaily to lea\e the nest, 

 when the s])aridws determined to hast- 

 en matters. I soon percei\'ed that a 

 portion of the sparrows attrac'te<l the 

 attention of parent blue-birds, while 

 the rest eni])l()yed themselves in oust- 

 ing the young birds tVom the nest, and 

 in this they suceeded before I could iu- 

 ferferi>. After replacing them I was 

 eallerl away, and on returning found 

 that a tragedy had been enacted in my 

 absence. The young birds Ijeing again 

 thrown from the nest, and this time 

 s]jeedily devoured l»y the family cat. 



The old blue-birds soon after left the 

 vicinity, and the sparrows took posses- 

 sion of the disserted home. 



C. R. 

 Cleveland, Ohio. 



