108 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Yol. 14-No. 7 



From top to top of the small oaks by the 

 wayside the Kingbird flitted with a nervous 

 jerk of the wing and his white-banded tail 

 wide spread, always keeping only a short dis- 

 tance out of reach. This species had arrived 

 but a few days before, and the actions of the 

 birds as they ever are upon its first arrival, 

 were half audacious, half stupid. I have 

 many a time observed that the Kingbird when 

 it first returns from its winter home may be 

 almost taken with the hand. It appears not to 

 know whether to fly at the approach of man 

 or to stand its ground and dispute the question 

 with him. 



Farther on a small flock of Partridges ran 

 across the road, and an old Bob White perch- 

 ing himself upon a log not twenty steps dis- 

 tant eyed me curiously as I drove by. His 

 clean, white necktie readily betrayed his gen- 

 der. The remainder of his company stood 

 meekly near. 



Where the road stretched through sections 

 of heavy timber the clear-cut note of the sum- 

 mer Redbird attracted and riveted my atten- 

 tion. There was no languor in his tones, but 

 his voice was full of energy. 



Again when the highway emerged from the 

 forests and lay between pleasant fields the 

 " querrock " of tlie Red-headed Woodpecker 

 challenged notice as he would hammer and 

 "querrock" alternately upon and from the 

 deadened pines still standing. Like his merci- 

 less tormentor the Kingbird, our red-headed 

 friend was a fresh arrival, but appeared more 

 like himself. In fact he was as much at home 

 as he will be a month hence feeding and flut- 

 tering upon the farmer's ripe mulberries. 



I listened often during the day for the 

 "squeal" of the Great-crested Flycatcher 

 but heai'd it not, he has not come yet. 



As the hours passed on apace the sun be- 

 came almost unpleasant, and I was beginning 

 to grow drowsy under its influence when from 

 high over head the "fciMay," " A"iMay," A-«7- 

 lay," of the hawk fell upon my ear. Birds of 

 prey never fail to interest me, and I scanned 

 the sky in all directions to discover the author 

 of those screams but the hawk was nowhere 

 to be seen. He may have been soaring beyond 

 the reach of vision. I saw only a chimney 

 swallow, like a cigar on wings, penciling in 

 its swift motions Hogarth's lines of grace and 

 and beauty against the bonnie blue of heaven. 



By noon I was again at home, where sitting 

 down for a half hour I watched some 



EIKDS BtTILDING THEIR NESTS. 



The Martins were busy conveying light layers 



of pine bark to the nesting places which I had 

 provided for them. These agile birds fasten 

 themselves after the manner of Woodpeckers 

 to the towering boles of the pine, and witli 

 their bills detach bits of bark thin as letter 

 paper. Out of this bark they construct the 

 foundation and major portion of the body of 

 their nests. 



The Martins are building earlier this spring 

 than usual. Indeed they arrived two weeks 

 earlier than I ever saw them before — the first 

 (a male) reaching liere the 12th of February. 



About two feet distant from a pair of Mar- 

 tins is an English Sparrow's nest; yet the birds 

 do not annoy one another. Apropos of this 

 subject: Last year a little Martin house con- 

 taining four rooms, each facing a ditt'erent 

 point of the compass, had three of its rooms 

 occupied by Martins, and the fourtli (me by a 

 pair of English Sparrows, all rearing broods at 

 the same time; still there was no manifest con- 

 tention among the birds. 



Not two rods from the Martin's quarters, 

 suspended from the branch of an Oak is a 

 gourd in which is a snug nest built by a 

 pair of Bluebirds. 



A iiair of White-bellied Nuthatches found a 

 shingle displaced on .a slope of one of tlie 

 gables of my dwelling and lost no time in claim- 

 ing it for a home. Their eggs will probably 

 hatch in less than another week. 



All the.se nests are in my yard and within a 

 few feet of my door; while only thirty yards 

 away a Blue Jay is carrying great armfuls 

 (mouthfuls I mean) of material out of which 

 to construct a nest among the fragrant foli- 

 age of a large hickory. \V. li. II. 



Smithville, (la. 



Local Names of North Carolina 

 Birds. 



Horned Grebe, White Coot (coast). The 

 Coot {Fulica americana) is Blue peter. 



PiEi)-]5ii>i>ED Grebe, Coot, Helldiver, Die- 

 dapper. 



Terns, Strikers (coast), from method of 

 feeding. 



Green Heron, Fish Hawk, Scout, Shypoke, 

 Fly-up-the-creek, Indian Hen. 



Sandpipers, Sea Chickens (coast). Snipe 

 (Raleigh). 



Turkey Vulture, North Carolina Buzzard. 



Bi^ACK Vulture, South Carolina Buzzard. 



Marsh Hawk, Rabbit Hawk, Oldfield 

 Driver, Goshawk, Chicken Hawk. 



