92 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 14-:N'o. 6 



cutting up fish liver, we could toll them right 

 alongside of the boat, and we could have 

 caught them in our hands if they had only 

 kept still long enough. We also found on the 

 island quite a large colony of Bank Swallows, 

 which had burrowed under the sod right on 

 top of a ledge, their nest being on the rock 

 with not over three inches of turf over them. 

 The young had all left the nests in all that we 

 examined. I mention this as I think it an 

 unusual nesting site of this swallow. To end 

 up I want to enter a protest against the prac- 

 tice of so-called city sportsmen who go on to 

 such islands as this one and shoot birds until 

 they are tired, break eggs for fun, and dig up 

 the Petrels and wring their necks. The Terns 

 they sometimes take, oftener just the wings, 

 leaving the bodies to rot; evidence of which I 

 saw. The fishermen claim they have driven 

 the Terns off one island, and that they are 

 only as one to ten to what they were ten years 

 ago on this island, since which time some of 

 the larger islands near by have become sum- 

 mer resorts. Such as these are the ones that 

 are doing the most towards exterminating and 

 driving away our birds from their accustomed 

 breeding places; not, as is often made the hue 

 and cry of the daily newspapers, the hunters 

 and taxidermists. Elmer T. Judd. 



Fairfield County, Conn. 



A Curious Set of Eggs of the Long- 

 billed Marsh Wren. 



While collecting eggs of the Long-billed 

 Marsh Wren {Tehnatodytes palustriH) a few 

 seasons ago, I came across a set which I think 

 is unique. 



It consists of four eggs of the usual size and 

 shape of typical Long-billed eggs, the texture 

 of the shell also being the same. The reason 

 I mention this fact is that eggs of the Short- 

 billed species are much more brittle than those 

 of the Long-billed. 



The eggs are all pure white; if you hold 

 them up to the light you can discern a few 

 lilac spots on the large ends, which have the 

 appearance of being under the surface of the 

 shell; otherwise they are immaculate. 



This set was found in the centre of a colony 

 of Long-bills on a salt meadow. The nest was 

 placed in a small bush three feet up, and was 

 composed of the same materials as typical 

 nests of the Long-billed; the female was seen 

 and fully identified. C. W. Cvandall. 



Nesting of the Oven-bird. 



The Oven-bird {Seiurus aurocainllun) is a 

 common summer resident in Chester county, 

 Penn., aiTiving about the last week in April, 

 and, as a rule, making its home in the denser 

 parts of the woods. 



On the twenty-sixth of May, 1888, while 

 trami^ing through a wood bordering on a 

 creek, I happened to see an unfinished nest on 

 the ground, which attracted my attention. It 

 was on a steep hillside facing the North, and 

 not more than one hundred yards from the 

 road. The nest was then simply a mass of 

 dry chestnut leaves and grass and looked much 

 like an old one. 



On June 6th I again visited the nest, which 

 now contained four eggs, including that of a 

 Cowbird. Although I waited probably half 

 an hour in the vicinity of the nest, the birds 

 did not put in their appearance, and I was lua- 

 able to determine to what bird the eggs be- 

 longed. Three days later, June 9th, I again 

 went to look at the nest, which still contained 

 but four eggs, including the Cowbird' s. The 

 bird was in the vicinity of the nest when I 

 reached it, and I recognized it as the Golden- 

 crowned Thrush, or Oven-bird. I sat down 

 upon a fallen tree trunk near by to watch it, 

 and soon it began to approach the nest, making 

 a circle around it. Had I not known its loca- 

 cation previously, it would not have been a very 

 difficult matter to discover it then. 



Upon blowing the eggs, I found that incuba- 

 tion had begun in all of them, thus showing 

 that the bird had ceased laying. The Cow- 

 bird's egg seemed to be more fvdly developed 

 than those of the Oven-bird. The spots on the 

 eggs were a rich lavender and brown, and 

 chiefly in a ring around the larger end. The 

 nest was composed of chestnut leaves, grass, 

 a few stems of the "maiden-hair" fei'u, and 

 lined with a little horse-hair. It was domed 

 over, and was quite bulky. 



Wlllard L. Maris. 

 West Chester, Pa. 



The W^ay he Does it. 



An easy way of blowing eggs : Take a piece 

 of rubber tube about two feet long, fasten one 

 end to faucet and fix a blow-pipe on the other. 

 Turn on the water very carefully until the 

 right force is obtained, and it will do fine 

 work. Winnford R. Denton. 



Wellesley, Mass. ^ 



