THE OOLOGIST. 



advertisements, etc.. each must be on a 

 separate slip and written on one side of the 

 paper only. 



4. Orders for bird's eggs. 



5. " " minerals. 



6. " " books, supplies, etc., etc. 



7. " " rubber stamps. 



8. Subscriptions for the Oologist. 



Sign your name and address in full at the 

 bottom or top of each slip. We always first 

 attend to orders sent as above suggested, 

 before trying to sort out " mixed-up " ones. 



A Warm Place for a Nest. 



Last summer I was told by a little boy 

 that wrens were in the habit of building in 

 iarap-posts. I looked in every lamp-post 

 that I came to after that andhave found 

 five in the little ventilator on the top of the 

 post. In several I have found eggs, and in 

 one young ones. M. G. K., 



St. Thomas, Ont. 



Nest of the Brown Creeper. 



( Certhia favuUaris rufa. ) 



Near the centre of my farm — AVildwood 

 — is a tract of low, swampy woodland, the 

 principal timber of which is black ash, 

 swamp elm, red maple, cedar and other 

 soft woods. Until late in the season the 

 ground is generally under water, and as the 

 surface is littered with old logs and brush, 

 and in some places there is a thick growth 

 of young underwood, it will be noted that 

 to oologize in such a place is a work ditfi- 

 cult and unpleasant, as you have either to 

 wade through the cold water or scramble 

 through the bi-ush and jump from log to 

 log. Yet there are reasons to induce the 

 oologist and student of ornithology to 

 scramble through such places, for since the 

 premises came into my possession, some 

 three years ago, I have seen in this wood 

 and around its margin, nests of the follow- 

 ing species : Crow, Robin, Hermit and 

 Tawny Thrushes, Water Thrush, Cat- 

 bird, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Song Chip- 

 ping, White-throated Sparrows, Indigo 

 Bird, Red-eyed Vireo, Goldfinch, Hou.se 

 Wren, Golden Winged, Hairy Wood- 



pecker, Kingbird, Cherry-bird, as well as 

 old nests of the Chestnut-sides Yellow- 

 rumped and Yellow Warblers and Wood 

 Pewee. I have also reasons to believe that 

 other species, including the Winter Wren, 

 have also occasionally nested there. And 

 among the many other bird-notes heard 

 there in the early spring are those of the 

 active little Brown Creeper. Its presence 

 there at the period of nidification last 

 spring led me to infer that it also nested 

 there, so I determined, if possible, to dis- 

 cover if such was the case. Being out in 

 this wood on the 13th of May, I was exam- 

 ining the trunk of an old ash tree, when 

 the notes of a Creeper fell on my ear, and 

 glancing upwards I saw the bird running 

 up the trunk of a neighboring tree, v.'ith 

 some white wooly-looking material in its 

 bill. From this she flew direct to another 

 old ash tree, Avhich 1 had just examined, 

 without making anj" discovery ; going* back 

 I found the commencement of a n<st under 

 a piece of curled bark about eight feet from 

 the root of the tree. Pleased with the dis- 

 covery I determined to watch proceedings, 

 and calculating that it would take about 

 two weeks for the bird to complete the 

 nest and deposit her full set of eggs, I did 

 not visit it again until the 23d, when, 

 bringing with me a short ladder and reach- 

 ing the site, I raised the bark a little, and 

 looking in saw in a cosy little nest three 

 pretty eggs. As I supposed the full set 

 would be about six I revisited the nest 

 again on the 27th and found seven eggs in 

 it ; as the Creeper was not at home and had 

 evidently deposited that morning, I con- 

 cluded that the set was not yet completed, 

 so I took part of the eggs and returned 

 again on the 29th, when'l found tliat an- 

 other eg'^ had been added. I then removed 

 the uestT and it is now with its full set of 

 eight eggs in my collection, in addition to 

 another set of five taken six years ago 

 some twelve miles north of this place : the 

 nest proper is about three inches in diame- 

 ter by one in depth, and is chiefly com- 

 posed of the fine fibres of cedar bark with 

 some fine hair and small feathers, the foun- 

 dation having been formed of rough pieces 

 of bark and the nests of insects. 



Wm. L. Ivells. 

 Listowel, Canada. 



