Jan. 1889.] 



AKD OOLOGIST. 



the American Crow's, and could be easily iden- 

 tified by their smaller size alone. 



The birds become very noisy when their 

 nests are examined, and it is not an uncommon 

 thino; for the robber to lind the entire commun- 

 ity tlying boisterously overhead. As the con- 

 iferous trees are numerous, and the fish 

 supply inexhaustible, it is not probable that 

 this island will be deserted by them for along 

 time, even in the face of improvement. The 

 old resident fisherman told me that some of 

 these birds remained all winter, seeking shelter 

 at night in the giant evergreens just in the wake 

 of the sand dunes, where he has seen as many 

 as fifty birds huddled togetlier on one tree in 

 the winter twilight. I found four young in 

 most nests examined May 2o, and some nests 

 deserted by the young. The eggs are prob- 

 ably deposited by April 15 to 25, and the 

 oologist who would visit this island at that 

 time could make a rich collecti<m of these 

 eggs. 



I was greatly disappointed in the yield of the 

 Piping Plover (^^(/ialUts inclodd) and Clapper 

 Rail {Rallus lonr/irnstH>< r.rejyitans). A furious 

 northeast storm prevailed for eight days in the 

 latter part of May, causing unprecedented 

 high tides, and flooding the beach and mead- 

 ows alike as they had not been before in the 

 .spring for years. This caused great destruc- 

 tion to the ground breeders and my man and I 

 picked up scores of broken egg shells of the 

 Kails which had been washed to high water 

 mark. 



Three eggs of the Piping Plover were shown 

 me by a fisherman which had been thrown up 

 high on the beach and cracked. These plovers 

 are very abundant and I spent an entire morn- 

 ing on my second visit in trying to mark down a 

 nest. It was only after lying fiat on the burning- 

 sandy beach tor a quarter of an hour that I 

 noticed one alight, and after a series of short 

 runs finally settle down on its nest and con- 

 tents. This was the only nest I foimd. 



The Clapper Rails build in the high grass 

 along the creeks on south side of the island. 

 The surrounding meadows are so frequently 

 overflowed that progression and search for tl.eir 

 nests is extremely laborious on account of the 

 yielding nature of the black muddy soil. The 

 grass is always somewhat twisted about di- 

 rectly over their nests and this is how the na- 

 tives find their eggs, which are highly esteemed 

 as an article of diet. It is surprising to one who, 

 after having tramped over the salt meadows 

 all day without having seen a single Rail, will 

 go after sundown to some outlying secluded 



spot to hear their clapping all over the marshes 

 on every side. 



The Seaside Sparrow {Ammodramus mariti- 

 miis) and Sharp-tailed Sparrow (A. caudac.utt(ti) 

 both breed abundantly all over the place in suit- 

 able spots, and I saw a series of twenty-three 

 sets of the former and seven of the latter which 

 had been taken on contiguous meadow. I 

 failed to find a set of the latter, but of the for- 

 mer took some fresh clutches on May 24, of 

 four and five eggs. These birds are so easily 

 flushed that when the collector is yet fifty 

 yards distant they will rise and fiy quietly 

 away, and the young man who took the large 

 series above referred to told me that the only 

 way he could find their nest was to wear a 

 pair of ruliber boots and creep stealthily and 

 noiselessly along the beach paths, thus surpris- 

 ing the birds on the nest and readily finding 

 the eggs. The nests of a Seaside Finch are well 

 and strongly made of the salt marsh grass and 

 reeds and are placed on the ground above 

 reach of high water. 



In every dead tree in which there is an open- 

 ing or cavity, one may safely expect to find the 

 nest of the White-bellied iiwaWo^ {TocJtycineta 

 Mcolor). On my visit I examined a great many 

 nests and five eggs seem to be the comple- 

 ment. These beautiful little swallows are so 

 playful and confiding that one hates to demol- 

 ish the tree in which they have their homes 

 and rob the nest. Upon hitting the base of the 

 tree in which they are supposed to have nests, 

 the female, if at home, will thrust her head 

 just out the ajierture above and calmly look 

 around, then drop back in the nest. I caught 

 one of them in my hand, so tame are they, or 

 rather slow to leave their eggs. The Barn 

 Swallow (Chelidonerythrogaster) and Cliff Swal- 

 low {Petrochelidonlunifrons) are sole tenants of 

 the one dilapidated barn and some cattle 

 and boat sheds of which the island boasts. 



The Kingbird {Tyrannus carolinends) is dis- 

 tributed about one pair to every furlong of 

 wooded land and their nests are beautiful, being 

 almost wholly made of usnea moss, placed on 

 the lower limbs of trees near the trunk (gen- 

 erally some of the evergreens), thus being es- 

 sentially different from their mode of placing 

 them in orchards at home. I took several fresh 

 sets of these eggs as well as the nests June W. 



The Parula Warbler (Compsothlypis amer- 

 icana) builds and breeds there in great numbers, 

 I am sure, as they are encountered on every side 

 in that part of the island where the moss covers 

 the trees and limbs, but the mosquitoes are a 

 dreadful drawback in securing their eggs, their 



