12 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 14-No. 1 



liver; suddenly, one of tliese birds attracted 

 my attention, and, as I stood watching- her 

 motions, I saw what seemed to be an unusual 

 looking clump of the long moss which hangs 

 upon nearly every dead tree, and many of the 

 live ones near by. Examination disclosed a 

 nest about five feet above the ground, appar- 

 ently hollowed out of the moss, with the en- 

 trance on the side, and containing four fresh, 

 beautifully marked eggs. The nest was de- 

 void of lining, which was true of every nest 

 found, with the exception of one, which bore 

 a few horse hairs. 



We continued our course down the river, 

 and while examining some promising look- 

 ing clumps of bushes, I heard my friend's 

 ''lohonjiee,'" and, approaching, found liim bend- 

 ing over a curious specimen of "bird eccen- 

 tricity." 



A pair of Chickadees {Pariis atrirapilbis) 

 had taken, as a home, a hole in a decayed 

 stump, which was not over 18 inches high, 

 and in a cleft in the very top of the stump, 

 about a foot deep, lay the nest, composed, as 

 usual, of rabbits' hair, swamp moss, and feath- 

 ers, with its full complement of six young. 



Neither of us had ever seen nor heard of 

 such a nest, and I have not since been able to 

 hear of a parallel case, and we felt fully repaid 

 for our trip by this one "find." 



A little farther on we discovered the hole of 

 a Kingfisher, in the bank of a pit used to 

 "sand a bog," and the bugle notes of the 

 male as he flew over our heads betokened that 

 madam was at home. Procuring a long- 

 handled shovel from the "boggers"' camp 

 near by, we soon had the orifice sufficiently 

 enlarged to see its occupants, and were dis- 

 gusted to find that it contained seven gaping 

 young, and the "old lady" was huddled away 

 in the fartliest corner of the burrow. It would 

 hardly be polite to quote what was said. Such 

 is life. 



We next went to Fawn Pond, a beautiful 

 sheet of water three-fourths of a mile in diam- 

 eter, and while quencliing our thirst with its 

 sparkling contents a shadow struck the water, 

 and directly over our heads appeared a fine 

 adult specimen of the Bald Eagle, with its 

 pure white head and tail glistening in the 

 svuilight, not fifty feet away. 



He was truly "monarch of all he surveyed, " 

 for my gun was at the farm-house, five miles 

 away. 



We then retraced our steps, arriving just in 

 time to sit down to a dinner sucli as only our 

 hostess can produce. 



The afternoon was spent in a tramp around 

 Half-way Pond, finding no eggs of any partic- 

 ular note. We saw some Parula and Pine- 

 creeping Warblers, but failed to locate their 

 nests. Upon a strip of high woodland between 

 Half-way and Long ponds, the trees fairly 

 teemed with Vireos, but it was too early for 

 their eggs, as we found after climbing several 

 trees. 



Long Pond, mentioned above, presents a 

 rather peculiar state of affairs. It is over a 

 mile long, and about one-half a mile wide, 

 completely surrounded I)y land, without any 

 visible outlet, except an artificial canal, or 

 rather tunnel, built to flood a cranberry bog, 

 connecting it with Hilf-way Pond, which is 

 only about 900 feet distant, and whose waters 

 are about 9 feet lower than those of I^ong 

 P(md. 



The next day was of litth; moment, as little 

 was done, my friend being called away upon 

 business, and I did little but explore the 

 woods near by. liut upon the following day 

 we started in the morning to explore an island 

 which is located in the middle of Half-way 

 Pond. This island is thickly wooded, not 

 having been cut off for many years, and pro- 

 tected from the forest fires which have burned 

 oft' so much of the surrounding country. Here, 

 bird life i-eigned sujjreme. Parulas, Red- 

 starts, Downy Woodpeckers, Vireos, etc., were 

 in abundance, and we found the nest of a 

 Coopers Hawk with two eggs, which were 

 then left for a complete set. (We visited it 

 again in three days, but no more eggs having 

 been laid in the meantime, we appropriated 

 them.) After spending three hours here, we 

 started for White Island Pond, about 7 miles 

 away. Here there were Parulas "galore," 

 and we found several nests, one set seen being 

 very peculiar in shape, which was almost pyri- 

 form, like some of the sea-birds. A Barred 

 Owl was started from his meal of fish here. 



While descending a steep bluff to the water's 

 edge, and clinging with both hands and fee^, 

 to keep from "going by the run," a small 

 bird started from directly beneath my feet, 

 and disappeared in the thick underbrush be- 

 fore I could get a good look at her. Not dar- 

 ing to move, I called Mr. Lewis to try and 

 identify it, bvit no bird was in sight; however, 

 we found the nest just under my uplifted foot, 

 built under the arch of a root, and containing 

 a set of eggs, referable to the Black and 

 White Creeper. We went away for a short 

 distance, and busied ourselves for a time, 

 and upon returning found our suspicions con- 



