THE OSPREY. 



69 



General Notes. 



A DOUBLE NEST. 



On June i6, 1897, ^ found an unusual nest of the 

 Chipping Sparrow ( Spizella socialis ) inasmuch as it 

 is a double-cupped nest as shown by the accompany- 

 ing illustration. In its construction the outside ma- 

 terial goes round both cups, and the horse hair lining 

 worked round one cup, then over into the other and 

 round it in an opposite direction from in the first 

 one. In general construction and material it is as in 

 the typical nest. 



It was placed in a small cedar bush, six feet from 

 the ground and close to a fence along the public road, 

 about one-half mile from Hambleton, Talbot County, 

 Maryland. One bird only was at the nest In one cup 

 was a single fresh egg : in the other were three eggs 

 partly incubated. — Wm. H. Fisher, i6oj Mt. Royal 

 Ave, Raltimori', Md. 



ANOTHER QUEER KINGBIRDS' NEST. 



"The first find of the day was made, and a very 

 curious one it was, too. A stump has been broken 

 off above the water leaving quite a cavity in one side, 

 and a Kingbird ( Tymninis tynuiniis ) had taken pos- 

 session of this, made its nest, and laid three eggs. 

 There she was down in a hole just as much at home 

 as though she had been a Woodpecker or an Owl We 

 thought this was rather a queer place for a Kingbird 

 to nest and passed on, leaving her alone. " 



Reading Mr. Howe's notice in the 

 December, 1S97, Ospkev, of a rather 

 unique Kingbird's nest in a swamp, 

 called the foregoing to mind. It is an 

 extract from an article describing a 

 day's outing in an Illinois River swamp, 

 published by me in the old ' O. & O.,' 

 Vol. 15, page 10. These birds often 

 nest hereabouts on boughs overhanging 

 the water as Mr. Howe describes, and 

 often quite low down. I have fre- 

 quently found them below six feet, and 

 once took a nest with three eggs whicii 

 was found so low that the waves had 

 wet the nest through, it was not over a 

 foot above the level of the river. 

 While collecting in Trail and Steel 

 Counties, North Dakota, 'in 1895, I 

 found many nests of this bird, some 

 within one foot of the ground, in small 

 sprouts or bushes. I took it that these 

 nests were placed so low for the pur- 

 pose of escaping the villainous winds 

 which howl across those prairies ap- 

 parently without ceasing. — R. M. 

 Barnes, Lncoii, III. 



DECREASE IN BIRD LIFE. 



[Perhaps some of our readers, who 

 have not seen the following circular, 

 may be able to give some information 

 regarding the decrease in bird life. — 

 Ed. I 



should be known, as nearly as it can be ascertained. 

 Because of your interest in natural history, your testi- 

 mony will be valuable. Will you kindly give me on the 

 inclosed postal card answers to the following questions; 



1. Are birds decreasing in number in your locality? 



2. About how many are there now in comparison 

 with the number fifteen years ago? (one-half as many "' 

 one-third"- one-fourth"-') 



3. What agency (or class of men) has been most 

 destructive to the birds of your locality? 



4 What important species of birds or quadrupeds 

 are becoming extinct in your State- 

 Answers to these four questions will be gratefully 

 appreciated by the undersigned, and may be of great 

 benefit in the preservation of our bird fauna. — 

 Yours very sincerely, W^illi.am T. Horn.adav. 



ELUSIVE MELODY. 



BY CHAR1,E,S SLOAN REIU. 



Hark. hark, does the snow at my feet breathe soiig? 



Does the hand of an unseen alchemist 

 , To whom all the secrets of earth belong ), 



From a crystal union cause to exist 

 Such a fluid of melodiousness 



As unites the white earth with heaven's sphere 

 By the ceremony of joy's caress 



In a fullness that brings the angels near? 

 But the source seems ventriloquial quite — 



Whence arises or falls tha' melody. 

 Twixt the sky so blue and the earth so white. 



That moves all life so felicitously - 

 .\\\ now, there is a sudden intense glow 

 Dear robin's red breast gleams against the snow. 



New York Zooi.ogical Societv, j 

 69 Wall Street, New York. 

 December 4, 1897. \ 



Dear Sir ; — It seems to be an undis- 

 puted fact that throughout the whole 

 United States, both birds and quadru- 

 peds are rapidly decreasing in number. 

 It is very desirable that the exact truth 



JAwDv, S)xe^jju>-tl ^ 



PKAIRIE HEN — BY EIJWIN SHEPPARU. 

 Cojiyright, ibg;, by Francis Harper, from 'The Gallinaceous Game Birds. 



