THE OOLOGIST. 



73 



Ciinie unexpectedly upon a nest of the 

 Song Sparrow. The nest, made of willow 

 leaves, small twigs and weeds and lieavily 

 lined with hay, was situated about six 

 inches above ground and loosely attached 

 to several branches. In moving the bush 

 the nest had been torn from its position. It 

 contained one young bird which, together 

 with the rest, I placed in a brush heap 

 about fifteen feet distant. 1 located the 

 ne-t as nearly in the original position as 

 possible, fixing it firmly amongst the 

 branches and about six inches above the 

 ground thinking that perhaps the parent 

 birds would spy out and succor their oll'- 

 spring. 



" What was my surprise on returning about 

 two hours later to find the nest ocbupied 

 by four young birds and the old birds in 

 the vicinity making a great cry at my in- 

 trusion. The young were large enough to 

 have jumped over the side of the nest on 

 being disturbed or they might have been 

 thrown from the nest by the violent manner 

 in which it had been handled, but they 

 clearly could not have got back into the 

 nest themselves as it was at 'too great a 

 distance from its former location, and was, 

 moreover, above ground. The only con- 

 clusion is that the parents on returning had 

 found three young birds on the ground and 

 also the fourth in the nest, and carried and 

 placed all in it, quite a diificult feat as the 

 young were more than half grown. I 

 visited the nest again on the next day and 

 found but two young in it. I searched on 

 the ground about the nest but was unable 

 to find any trace of the missing birds. The 

 parents were chattering and scolding in the 

 vicinity, clearly proving that they had ac- 

 cepted the situation and had no idea of 

 abandoning their offspring. 



H. A. Koch, College Hill, O. 



In the Haunts of the Purple Gallinule. 



The Purple Gallinule, {lononiis mnrtin- 

 ica) is intimately associated with our WiU"m 

 and sparkling aquatic scenes of June. At 

 tliis glorious season of the year, he is at the 

 heighth of his brilliant career, and lends a 

 bright charm to wherever he frequents. 



At what time this bird makes his appear- 

 ance in the northern region of the Gulf, I 

 have not definitely ascertained; suffice it is 

 to say here that April hears his voice call- 

 ing his mate from the rank profusion of 

 vegetation in our small streams and swamps. 

 About the middle of May nest building is 

 begun, and early in June finds the eggs de- 

 posited and incubation going on. 



For the benefit of those who are unac- 

 quainted with the haunts of the Purple 

 Gallinule, I will try to describe it for them. 

 We will step into our pirogue and paddle 

 up the Bayou in seai-ch of their breeding 

 grounds. It is a bright June morning, and 

 all of nature's awakened energy is volum- 

 inously displayed. We will have to paddle 

 vigorousl3\ as the warm season has filled 

 the stream with a dense series of gill-like 

 grasses, to filter the slowly moving current, 

 and which impedes our progress consider- 

 ably. From the surface of the water 

 myriads of tiny fiowers are peeping into 

 the blue sky above and breathing the warm 

 June air. On either side of us, a dense 

 growth of rushes 8 or 9 feet in height winds 

 along the Bayou's length; and here and 

 there is an opening through them, where 

 the settler paddles his pirogue ashore. 

 Odors of the Louisiana Lotus laden the air, 

 and occasionally we catch glimpses of its 

 pale yellow petals through the openings. 



We have paddled half a mile above the 



town of H , from whence we started, 



when we hear a Gallinule's loud cackle. A 

 little further on he .springs from the rushes 

 and disappears up the Bayou. We paddle 

 to where he sprang from. Ah ! there is the 

 nest! A slight bending inward of the 

 rushes betrays this nest. It rests three- 

 fourths up the clump of rushes, is composed 

 of green rush blades, and is about a foot in 

 diameter. Half a dozen buff eggs, speck- 

 led with madder and light purple lay 

 cradled in it. 



Hark! up the tortuous trail of rushes we 

 hear voices of Gallinules, and we accord- 

 ingly push off to their retreat. Along the 

 way we visit the nests and find them con- 

 forming in construction with the preceed- 

 ing descriijed one. 



