The Oologist. 



VOL. XVII. NO. 3. 



ALBION, N. Y., MARCH, 1900. 



Whole No. 164 



The Oologist. 



A Monthly Publication Devoted to 



OOLOGY, ORNITHOLOGY AND 

 TAXIDERMY. 



FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, 

 ALBION, N. Y. 



Correspondence and Items of Interest to the 

 student of Birds, their Nests and Eggs, solicited 

 from all. 



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Nesting Materials. 



The materials that birds use for nest 

 building are many and various; and we 

 can almost say that everything is used 

 in nest construction by some species of 

 bird. Among the varied assortment we 



shall find bones and stones, string and 

 raj?s, hair and feathers, roots and bark, 

 catkins and plant down, cast-off skins 

 of insecf", snakes and even small m«m- 

 mals' pelts, and hundreds of. other arti- 

 cles too numerous to mention. These 

 articles are . selected by the birds in ihe 

 construction <if their nests, and mth gath- 

 ered from far and near. Then th^re are 

 the materials which many species of 

 birds supply from their own persons, as 

 the down of the ducks' nests, and the 

 glue of the chimney swift, which it se- 

 cretes for the purpose. 



It is an easy matter to study nest con- 

 struction as followed in the spring of 

 the year, but it is much easier to study 

 the make up of these nests in the au- 

 tumn, winter or early spring when the 

 leaves do not cover the trees, and furth- 

 ermore we are not as liable to damage 

 our iiitle friends, as they have left their 

 homes for the winter in the south, and 

 will build anew when they return to us. 

 As quite one-third of the birds of Amer- 

 ica nest on the ground or within a very 

 few feet of it, it is not a difficult matter 

 to study them in their nesting habits, 

 and as well, secure the nests for inspec- 

 tion and the collection. There are many 

 amateur collectors who are very con- 

 siderate in regard to robbing the birds. 

 and prefer to watch and study rather 

 than take the eggs. Some of these stud- 

 ents, and I wish there were more of 

 them, gather the different kinds of nests 

 after the nesting season is over and 

 label them as naturalists do with speci- 

 mens in their various departments. 



Thoreau, that interesting out- door ob- 

 server and graphic writer, was a pleased 

 student of birds' nests in the winter, 

 and in one of his diary entries in Janu- 

 ary we find this: "Another bright win- 

 ter's day. To the woods to see what 



