lU 



THE OOLOGIST 



Orioles and Thrushes. 'J'his season will j 

 be better for collectiu<x than any season for ' 

 the last five years. Previous to this tliere i 

 has beeu a great scarcity of grass, so there 

 was very little feed for them, but this sea- 

 son early rains liave made feed abundant. 

 When there is a scarcity of feed they go 

 back into the mountains. 



If you or any of your readers can give 

 me any information on the following, I will 

 be very much obliged. Last season every 

 nest of the Horned Lark found had three 

 eggs in them ; every one found this season 

 so far have had four in them. 



G. H. Grant. , 



Nesting of the Large-billed Water 

 Thrush (Siurus ludovicianus). 



BV ADOLPIIE B. COVKRT. 



LTHOL Gil this species is quite com- 

 mon in the middle sections of the U- 

 0i-\ nited States, and more common than 

 is generally supposed in tlie northern parts, 

 but very little reliable information has ever 

 been written concerning its breeding habits. 

 Although Audubon describes the nest and 

 eggs of this bird in his great work (if my 

 memory serves me right), it must be taken 

 as Dr. Bi'ewer justly remarks : all that the 

 earlier authors liave left us respecting the 

 habits of this bii'd must be taken cum gravo 

 for it was a good while before the Louisi- 

 ana Water Thrush was fairly recognized, 

 and much that Wilson, Nuttail and Audu- 

 bon have to say of the Water Thrush, re- 

 fers either to the other species or to both 

 species indiscriminately. Aububon, indeed 

 capped the confusion by reuniting the two 

 species which he had formerly described 

 with sufficient precision. But I am wan- 

 dering from my subject. The 25th day of 

 May, 1877, found me in the field collecting. 

 I had driven out into the country about 

 twelve miles from home, stabled my liorse 

 and struck into a deep, dark swamp of black 

 ash and elm. The day was intolerably hot 

 while every step forward in the luxuriant 



ferns brought forth blood-thirsty swarms of 

 mosquitoes, who, alighting on every exposed 

 part, would quickly be at work getting their 

 morning meal. 1 liad kept my dog at heel 

 imtil it seemed as if they would drive him 

 mad, and 1 bid him hie on, thinking per- 

 haps he might rid himself of them. He had 

 bui fairly started, when a small bird sprang 

 from the ground into some tall weeds. It 

 had but lit when a half ounce of dust shot 

 dropped it, and on going forward I was 

 much grieved to find a female Blue Golden- 

 winged Warblei' a few inches from a half 

 finished nest. I picked it up, thinking of 

 the sad tragedy whereby one of God's 

 brightest golden messengers of love to this 

 world, had lost its life, all for the gratifi- 

 cation of a heartless creature called by cour- 

 tesy " Man," for, after picking up warm, 

 bloody little birds for nine years, 1 cannot 

 call it anything but murder. After reload- 

 ing mv gun I started on and obtained a fine 

 male Blackburnian Warbler. I had now 

 reached the border of rather a large pool of 

 water and seated myself on a decayed log : 

 my dog was rolling and playing in the wa- 

 ter. The sharp alarm note of a bird start- 

 ed my wandei-ing thoughts. I looked up 

 and saw the author of the notes nimbly hop- 

 ping fi'om limb to limb on a large asii tree 

 the other side of the pond. I called in my 

 dog, and was about started around the pond 

 when the bird crossed over to my side. I 

 immediately recognized it as a Water 

 Thrush, with some bits of grass in its beak. 

 I retired a few rods, dropped behind a tree, 

 and watched the bird. She still seemed 

 very uneasy, but after reconoitering a few 

 minutes, she alit at the roots of a large tree, 

 within a few feet of where I had been sit- 

 ting. After remaining tor a short time, she 

 then left, I hastened forward, and at the 

 base of the tree and against a large root 

 which partly arched over it, I found a par- 

 tially finished nest. After marking the spot 

 thoroughly in my memory, I \\ithdrew and 

 in a short time had filled my collecting bas- 

 ket, and started for home. On the 7th of 

 June I returned to the sp<:»t, found the nest 

 to contain five eggs, and shot the parent 



