THE OOLOGIST. 



49 



During the past six weeks we have been 

 very, very busy— have filled orders amount- 

 ing to over $3,500.00, been to Chautauqua 

 twice to help arrange our Natural History 

 Stores in the Oriental and Dock Buildings 

 in that place (in the latter building we flat- 

 ter ourselves on having the finest displaj' 

 of specimens ever exhibited at Chautau- 

 qua), have written over 1,000 letters and 

 have traveled nearly, if not quite, 2,000 

 miles to attend to matters relating to our 

 business. During the month of August 

 we shall make Chautauqua our headquar- 

 ters, and although we have earned a vaca- 

 tion, we shall work harder than ever, but 

 it is expected that this work, owing to the 

 many pleasant anticipated chats with our 

 friends and patrons, will be a work of 

 pleasure. 



Chewink Nests in a Tree. 



The nest, situated in solitar}' woodland, 

 in a sapling overgrown with a wild grape- 

 vine, and was about eight feet from the 

 ground, was found Aug. 7th, 1885. The 

 bird on being frightened from the nest, 

 flew to the ground and spread her wings as 

 if she were wounded, ran and hopped 

 along, evidently inviting pursuit. I fol- 

 lowed her through the dense undergrowth, 

 being able to keep her in sight. If I halted 

 she would also stop, and if I went forward 

 rapidly she would do the same. This con- 

 tinued until she had Iqfl me far enough 

 from her nest, as she thought, when she 

 suddenly disappeared and I soon heard her 

 note from a point in the wood quite remote. 

 I returned to the nest. It was quite bulky, 

 its external diameter being six inches, and 

 ex-depth seven inches. The foundation of 

 the nest was a lai"ge quantity of leaves, 

 which were quite wet from recent rains, 

 and would from their number and bulk 

 and the cool, shady locality, retain their 

 moisture for a long time, thus securing the 

 same conditions as if the nest had been 

 placed upon mother earth. The middle 

 layer of the nest was a mass of the stringy 

 bark of the wild grape, neatly and com- 

 pactly arranged. The lining was a thick 

 layer of fine hay which was quite dr}'. 



The eggs, two in number, were slightly in- 

 cubated. They were uniform in size, 

 somewhat larger than the average Tow- 

 hee's eggs, and the spots less thickly scat- 

 tered over the eggs than is usual. 



Another nest found August 15th was 

 placed six feet from the ground in a sap- 

 ling. The construction of the nest was 

 identical with the foregoing, as were also 

 the actions of the bird when driven from 

 the nest. The eggs, three in number, were 

 quite fresh and not in any way different 

 from the usual specimens. There is one 

 other curious fact in connection with the 

 latter nest. The same pair of birds had 

 already made two attempts to breed dur- 

 ing the season in the same locality. The 

 first nest Avas placed on the ground under 

 an old brush heap. It contained, when 

 first found, a number of young, which 

 were stolen by some animal before thej^ 

 left the nest. The parents, not discour- 

 aged, soon after deposited another set of 

 eggs in the nest, but were again unsuc- 

 cessful, as these eggs were soon destroyed. 

 They then left the nest and built in the 

 tree, probably coming to the concIu.sion 

 that the latter was a safer locality. 



H. A. Koch. 



A Day Among the Fish Hawks. 



On May 27th, I started out for a day's 

 collecting' among the Fish Hawks. I had 

 to walk nearly three miles to get to my 

 boat. Here I took my boat, and after sail- 

 ing for half an hour, I came in sight of the 

 nesting places of the noble Fishing Eagle. 

 ]Makin"g everj'thing snug on board the boat, 

 I started out on a lour of inspection. The 

 first nest I came to contained two of the 

 finest marked Fish Hawk's eggs I ever saw. 

 I soon after found another set of three eggs. 

 but after this I climbed to seven nests on 

 which I saw the bird setting, but I was dis- 

 appointed everj' time by finding the nest 

 empty. I succeeded in locating two Least 

 Bitterns' nests, one of which contained 

 four eggs. It now began to get dark, and 

 I started home by another route, and on 

 the way succeeded in finding three sets of 

 fine Fish Hawks' eggs. That night about 

 nine o'clock a tired but well pleased oolo- 

 gist came trudging home, very much grub- 

 struck. " (Old Salt,) 

 Sea Isle City, IS". J. 



