i>8 



OliNITII<)L()(il.ST 



[Vol. 16-No. T 



place of till' woods, aiul near a niiicli used 

 path. We left this also, hoping that the 

 female would lay another egg. 



Onr ne.xt adventure was taking, or trying to 

 take, a I51ue-gray Gn.atcatcher's {PoUoptila 

 ca'rulea) nest. It was up a large oak, placed 

 out on a small limb, so that it could not be 

 reached with the hand. I fixed a wire fork in 

 the end of a hmg reed, and jjrepared to make 

 the ascent. When I got up even witli tlie 

 nest, it seemed farther out than ever and I 

 could just reach it witli the reed. I was ter- 

 ribly shaky, and the consequence was tliat I 

 pushed the nest off the limb, and out rolled 

 five fresh eggs. 



We then visited a thicket in which the 

 Green Herons {Avdea mrexcenn) nested last 

 year but did not find anything except an 

 empty Catbird's (Qahoscoptes caroUnensix) 

 nest placed in the thickest clump of bamboo 

 briars I ever saw. Of course we wanted to 

 see %yhat was in it and were rewarded by a 

 good lot of scratches. 



Leaving this place we started home, going 

 by the Hooded Warbler's nest No. 3. We 

 found her on and concluded to take the set. 

 Just as I put out my hand to take it we heard 

 a loud hum above us, and we commenced look- 

 ing around when my cousin pointed to a 

 small oak, and said "Yonder it is!" I looked, 

 and sure enough it was a Ruby-throated Hum- 

 mingbird's (Trochilus coliihris) nest placed on 

 a small limb about twelve feet from the 

 ground. Tlie curious part is, vce had to pass 

 right under the nest and limb to get to 

 the Warbler's nest. Now, why did she wait 

 until we reached the Warblei's nest, which 

 was at least ten feet further on, before she 

 left the nest? My cousin and myself both 

 tried to climb to the nest at the same time, 

 but did not make much headway as we were 

 in each other's way. At last I gave up and he 

 kept on to the nest. While going up he shook 

 the tree so much that one egg fell out, but 

 he secured the other egg and the nest 

 safely. The nest was a pretty structure and 

 strongly fastened to the limb. It was orna- 

 mented on the outside witli gray lichens, so 

 that it very much resembled the limb on which 

 it was placed. It is in no wise like a nest of 

 the Anna's Hummingbird (Trochilus anna) I 

 have that was collected in California, but the 

 eggs are indistinguishable, a fact noticed by 

 Davie in his book. Nests and Ei/us of N. A. 

 Birds. This witli the blowing of the eggs 

 we had taken concluded tliis day's search. 

 Tlie next day found us in the wood pretty 



early, and our first find was a Hooded 

 Warbler's nest containing four eggs, incuba- 

 tion nearly one-half. Tliis nest was placed in a 

 clump of reeds, three and a half feetficmi the 

 groniul, that were growing in a small wet and 

 marshy swamp, thereby showing they are not 

 particular in selecting a nesting place, and 

 that they are not restricted to one kind of 

 ground. We had tramped a good ways and 

 were still tramping when the female Hooded 

 Warbler's noie came through the woods to ns 

 again. We hurried on and soon found the 

 nest which was phiced among the small twigs 

 growing on the side of a beech bush, nearly 

 two feet up. It contained tliiee fresh eggs, 

 which we took. 



A little further on we found another nest of 

 the same spei ies, but it did not have any eggs 

 in it. The female was Hushed from the nest 

 where she had, I suppose, gone on to dejwsit 

 the first egg. 



The next find was an American Crow's 

 (CorvJta nmerii-ujius) nest. It was placed in 

 the top of a pine tree, which, I think, was nearly 

 one hundred feet high. 



Now we started to the Pine Warbler's nest, 

 spoken of before, to see what we could do in 

 the way of reaching it. When we got there 

 my cousin tried first to go up it, but soon gave 

 it up as too great an undertaking. I then tried, 

 and "sliinned" up a little oak standing near, 

 to near the top, and swung into a pine from 

 which I could reach the nest. I carefully 

 took the nest from the limb and placed it in 

 my hat and commenced descending. I 

 reached terra firma without any mishap, and 

 was the proud owner of a nice set of four eggs. 

 On blowing, incubation was found to be just 

 commenced. Then we took a set of five 

 Purple Mirtin, which ended our time with the 

 birds, at least for a wliile. 



,/. ir. P. Smitliwick. 

 S.inft Snuci, N. C. 



A Plea for Nest Collecting. 



Be well assured, — oh yc that are eager, for 

 gain's sake, to lay your claws upon "naked 

 clutches" of eggs, — that to some of us, more 

 enthusiastic for nature, ijerhaps, than skilful 

 tor science, "clutches" without nests are like 

 that from which the glory is departed, — like 

 books without margins, brooks without mo.ssy 

 rocks, trees without their own peculiar leaves. 

 Moreover, to drop simile, they tell hut half a 

 story. They tell only what Niitxrr has done 



