THE OSPREY. 



found two of three more similar nests in similar 

 places. I never dreamed that they could be other 

 than Canada Warblers; but the owners proved 

 to be Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, a species not 

 previously observed at all, so retiring- were their 

 habits, and the Canada's nesting^ place remained 

 undiscovered. One very numerous bird, in every 

 deciduous swamp, was the newly-named Alder 

 Flycatcher; their notes quaint, varied, and en- 

 tirely new to me, saluted me everywhere, and 

 whenever I heard an unknown song, called it 

 an Alder Flycatcher without question, a rule 

 that proved unetiual to the emerj^encies, for later 

 developments proved the Yellow-bellied Fh'- 

 catcher the source of many trills and quirks 

 mistakenly ascribed to his relative of the Alders. 

 The first day out I heard a note loud and clear 

 but neiv to me; it had a Flycatcher accent, and 

 my companion was sure it was a Gt. Crested F., 

 but it seemed totalh' distinct from any note I 

 had ever observed from that species, and called 

 for an investig^ation; the bird took tiight from a 

 lofty tree-top, as we drew near, and proved to be 

 the Olive-sided Flycatcher. The next day we 

 saw and heard a number of them in similar 

 situations, and soon discovered that the bird 

 was a common species in that section. 



Among- the Vireos, the Warbling was very 

 common in the shade trees of the village street, 

 and I noticed a nest swinging in the breeze on 

 the topmost boughs of an Flm at least 60 feet 

 from the ground; the male bird was continually 

 caroling from the branches below, where his 

 song could be heard and appreciated by listeners 

 beneath. Red-eyed Vireos were also common, 

 and one day in the woods while discussing the 

 possibilities of the Philadelphia V. a peculiar 

 vireonic note struck my ear and called a halt; 

 investigation revealed a Solitary Vireo, sitting 

 on her beautiful nest, and whistling- as if to at- 

 tract attention; there was nothing in the nest, 

 but she clung to it till touched hy the finger. 

 The next daj^ we found three more nests of the 

 species, all in exactly the same situations, in 

 small Spruces, close to the main stem, in a crotch 

 formed by a whorl of branching twigs. The 

 second nest contained young with feathers, in- 

 dicating that the nest must have lieen built and 

 eggs laid before the middle of May, a sugges- 

 tion regarding a Vireo quite surprising to me. 

 The third nest found contained five eggs, the 

 largest set of any Vireo I ever saw or heard of. 

 This bird absolutel)' refused to leave the nest; 

 even when we tried to push her off, she clung 

 tenaciously to it, and would not leave. My friend 

 took her at last by the beak, and passed her to 

 me in that manner to examine, but she remain- 

 ed as cjuiet and rigid as if made of wood with- 

 out a flutter even till she was tossed in the air. 



How I was startled as a bird sprang from 

 under a small Spruce shrub by my side with 

 g^reat fuss and flutter, and dashed into a thicket 

 a rod away. It proved to be an old acquaint- 

 ance, the "Hermit Thrush, and the nest built 

 into the ground beneath with its four pale blue 

 eggs was new and interesting^ to me. The song'-s 

 of the Hermit and Olive-backed Thrushes were 

 among- the charming attractions of the dark 

 Spruce thickets. Apparently very common birds 

 everywhere, the notes of the Hermit are a sweet 



imitation of our Wood Thrush, though weaker 

 in volume and force, but the Olive-back was de- 

 cidedly original in its song. One day I found 

 myself facing- one of these birds on its nest, 

 the great staring eyes looked into mine, the very 

 picture of wildness. Don't touch the eggs, said 

 my friend, if 3'ou do the bird will either destroy 

 them or carry them away. Superstition, thought 

 I, and took one in my hand, a ver)^ handsome 

 green egg-, profusely blotched and spotted about 

 the large end. A substantial bulky nest of 

 twigs and grass and rootlets, lined with grass, 

 situated in a small Spruce, about five feet up, 

 all very interesting; but my friend's prognosti- 

 cation proved too true, and only an empty nest 

 greeted my next call. There was one little 

 Warbler there, quite common, that baffled me 

 completely; its song was clear and vigorous, 

 when several rods away, but ceased upon near 

 approach, and the foliag^-e was so dense I could 

 not find him; he moved my curiosity and incited 

 diligent search every day, but defied discovery. 

 I thought it must be the Bay-breasted with 

 whose songs I am unacquainted. The only 

 Buteo and most common Hawk observed, was 

 the Broad-winged of which eight sets of eggs 

 were taken. Sparrow Hawks were also common 

 and several nests were noticed, mostly in very 

 deca\'ed birch trunks, dangerous as well as dif- 

 ficult of access. One set of American Goshawks 

 was also secured. I was startled one day at 

 hearing, some little distance away, a wild crj' or 

 scream several times repeated, and presently 

 saw a large black bird, almost like a Crow in 

 flight, dashing away and afar from the grove 

 whence the sound had emanated; it was pro- 

 nounced a Pileated Woodpecker. Later I saw and 

 heard others, and finalh' my friend found a nest. 

 Of the other Woodpeckers observed, the Yellow- 

 bellied seemed most common, nesting abun- 

 dantly. Black-headed Snowbirds were common 

 and several nests of young were observed. The 

 little Red-breasted Nuthatch was also a common 

 resident, excavating its own nesting place in 

 the decaj'ed Birch stumps so common in the 

 swamps; these nests were usually from 15 to 20 

 feet up, in stubs soft with decay, and that seem- 

 ed ready to fall with a push, and an Oologist 

 might well pause before trusting his life to such 

 a climb. Two interesting birds were quite 

 abundant. Pine Finches and Red Cross-bills. I 

 saw several flocks of the latter flying among 

 the Spruce Woods, but the greater number ob- 

 served were in the Elms of the village street, 

 where both the Finches and Cross-bills in num- 

 bers, were feasting on the ripening seeds, and 

 the Cross-bills occasionally hopping- in the 

 street with the Eng-lish Sparrows. As this was 

 in June, the question often confronted me, when 

 and where did they nest. Seventy-nine species 

 of birds came under my observation during the 

 brief sta^' (of eight days), and the time and cir- 

 cumstances would seem to indicate, that most 

 if not all of them were located for nesting 

 purposes. Several like the Phoebe, the Grackle, 

 the House Wren, the Winter Wren, the Brown 

 Creeper and Scarlet Tanager were evidently 

 very rare, only a single specimen of each being 

 observed, but most of the species were very 

 abundantly represented. 



