THE OOLOGISt 



n 



jacent incline is another pasture 

 strewn with fodder and a likely look- 

 ing place for some more Killdeer, and 

 sure enough, I find her nest with three 

 fresh eggs. A King Fisher is patrol- 

 ling the stream. There is a Red Eyed 

 Vireo delivering his Sunday speech n\ 

 the orchard. Four Green Herons are 

 sauntering about the dwarf evergreens 

 and I noticed one of their nests about 

 fifteen feet up. A Sharp Shin Hav.it 

 has alighted on the top of another 

 evergreen and is looking at me wiMi 

 fixed glance. I hear the first King- 

 birds of the season and a newly ar- 

 rived Crested Fly Catcher is revisiting 

 the old orchard. 



The humming of a distant motor 

 suggests the appearance of an aero- 

 plane and I look up straight into the 

 face of an old Turkey Buzzard who 

 looks almost as large as a DeHavilland 

 as he volplanes over the guUey. 



One of my old school day poems 

 was, "In the Stub of the Old Orchard 

 Tree." Four little Blue Birds and the 

 anxious parents are perched on the 

 fence close by. Fifty yards a*way in 

 the cavity of a«nother old apple tree a 

 little chickadee disappears and her 

 babies can be heard, as I recline under 

 the pippin, to make a few notes. 



Peabody birds are still singing in 

 the brush heaps where a Chewink 

 sings periodically and a little Field 

 Sparrow trills. Swifts are flying^ low 

 as they do on cold days I hear the 

 Martins and occasionally an old Crow 

 calls. In the little pine below the road 

 is a Chipping Sparrow's nest with four 

 little eggs. Just think of it! Young 

 Chipping Sparrows, Bluebirds and 

 Chickadees, while the Killdeers arc 

 just laying and White-throated Spar- 

 rows continue to loiter. Half a mile 

 above the stream in a little patch of 

 cat tails Red Wings and Song Spar 

 rows are sharing the mire. Juniper 

 berries are enjoyed by the Wax Wings 

 and these fellows certainly look pretty 



with their crest erect, each carrying 

 a morsel. 



I am wondering how to "dope" 

 it out. A Killdeer running through the 

 orchard. A most unusual place for 

 one and there is nothing on either of 

 the four sides of the large orchard to 

 justify this. Consequently, some part 

 of this arrangement of apple trees 

 must mean a great deal to him. Al- 

 most every old fruit tree holds a nest. 

 The orchard has not been trimmed or 

 sprayed in years and insect life is 

 abundant. I perceive a Plover stealth- 

 ily wending its way among the uneven 

 lumps of gravel and, sure enough, P 

 have found four darkly blotched eggs 

 in a saucer of pebbles surrounded by 

 old apple stumps and decayed branch- 

 es. Behavior and opportunity seem 

 different in old Kentucky. 



GERARD ALAN ABBOTT. 



ABBOTT STILL FINDS 'EM 

 (On the Ground) 

 In my new location here I saw a 

 Kentucky Warbler on her nest last 

 Saturday, also a Mourning Warbler 

 left her nest when I got too close. Dis- 

 covered a clutch of four Henslow's in 

 southern Indiana and found two nests 

 of my favorite Woodcock among the 

 hills near the Indiana shore of the 

 Ohio. Presume you knew that John 

 Lewis Childs and John Burroughs, two 

 old naturalists, passed away the oth-'r 

 day under similar circumstances. 

 Their demise was only a few weeks 

 apart, and both were enroute to New 

 York state from their sojourns in 

 sunny California. I called upon Sen- 

 ator Childs at his Long Island home 

 last summer and he had aged con- 

 siderably. I regret it very much, but 

 I will not be able to get into the North- 

 west this season. I hope to make it 

 next year, even if I have to start on 

 "shanks' horses" 90 days before .'he 

 Bartramian whistles and the Willett 

 swerves. 



Gerard A. Abbott, 

 May 24, 1921. Louisville. Ky. 



