134 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 14-No. 9 



of this Vireo in the same nest and this num- 

 ber but once, as the usual number, when they 

 contain Cowbird's eggs, is one, two or three. I 

 do not fully understand why this is the case, 

 or whether or not it is caused by the Cowbird's 

 eggs being deposited. 



12. Vireo gilvus. AVarbling Vireo. In 

 Missouri where I have taken a large number 

 of this bird's nests I have three records of the 

 Cowbird's eggs. One nest containing two 

 eggs, and two containing one egg each. 



13. Vireo novehoracensia. White-eyed Vi- 

 reo. Two nests containing two eggs each of 

 the Cowbird are recorded. 



14. Protonoturia cilrea. Piothonotary War- 

 bler. May 21, a set of five eggs of this War- 

 bler and one of the Cowbird was found. 



15. Geothlypis tricha.s. Maryland Yellow- 

 throat. A nest found in May contained one 

 Cowbird's egg. 



16. Icteria virens. Yellow-breasted Chat. 

 A set of eggs collected in Missouri on May 

 20 contained two eggs of the Cowbird. 



17. IlnrporhynchuK rufus. Brown Thrasher. 

 April 30, 1 found a nest with three of the own- 

 er's eggs and one egg of the Cowbird. This I 

 believe is an unusual instance, both the early 

 date of finding and the bird in whose nest it 

 was laid. 



IS. Tnrdiis mustelinus. I found a nest of 

 this Thrush in Missouri containing one egg of 

 the Cowbird and three of the Thrush within 

 a few feet of a Vireo' s nest which also con- 

 tained a Cowbird's egg. Otho C. Poling. 

 Quincy, Illinois. 



The Florida Jay ( Aphelocoma flor- 

 idana.) 



I first saw the Florida Jay in an old orange 

 grove on the Banana JUver. It was vSunday 

 morning in mid August. I was waiting for a 

 conveyance to take me to the light-house on 

 Cape Canaveral, and whenever a lull occurred 

 in the "mosquito war" I tried to make a few 

 bird notes. This same "mosquito war" is a 

 regular summer institution in South Florida. 

 If I could do the subject justice I would write 

 it up, but woids fail, at least English words do, 

 to express a tithe of the horrors which an un- 

 protected collector encounters among them in 

 what would otherwise be a charming region. 

 The owner of the grove was with me, and as 

 we neared a thick mass of guava bushes he 

 pointed out a bird which, though I have never 

 seen before in life, I could not fail to recog- 



nize. As I showed some interest in the spec- 

 imen before me I was at once saluted with the 

 stereotyped inquiry, "How much will you 

 agree to give apiece for them?" I explained 

 that I wished to shoot them myself, and of 

 course the rejoinder was " How much will you 

 agree to pay a day to shoot in my grove?" 

 Merely for amusement I followed up this train 

 of conversation aud the result finally was that 

 I was offered the privilege of shooting on the 

 premises for six dollars a day, or I might pay 

 half a dollar apiece for what "jaybirds" I 

 coidd kill. I thanked the genial son of the 

 soil for his generous offers but declined them 

 both, and the train having at last arrived started 

 for the light-house. This illustrated anotlier 

 phase of Florida life. A species of mammal 

 exists therein closely allied to man but pre- 

 dacious by nature and possessing — not cast 

 iron — but adamantine cheek. Their prey con- 

 sists almost exclusively of rich Yankees of 

 which there is usually a bountiful harvest in 

 the winter; but during the hot season they 

 will pounce upon any chance passer-by, even 

 if it be only a poor ornithologist. 



Within a radius of two or three miles from 

 Cape Canaveral I found the Florida Jay toler- 

 ably common, but do not suppose from that 

 statement that it was easy to procure them 

 "in quantities." They are fully as wary as 

 their Northern relatives and unless killed out- 

 right it's "goodbye Jay." 



A sample day was something like this. I 

 started out in the early morning and after 

 walking about a mile and a half on the road 

 towards the post-office, I heard the warning 

 cry of a jay somewhere towards the right. 

 This note bears some resemblance to the scold- 

 ing of a Mockingbird, but is a little more pro- 

 longed and much more nasal in quality. Cau- 

 tiously following the sound I caught sight of 

 the bird in an oak bush. Between us was a 

 shallow saw-grass pond which I must wade. 

 These ponds contain, among many other speci- 

 mens of animal life, a lively little bug that 

 stings much like a bee. It's best to shake 

 your foot hard every time you raise it from 

 the water. Also lose no time in raising the 

 other foot and shaking that too. All the time 

 you will either say or think many naughty 

 words. Just as I got across the pond the jay 

 dropped gracefully down on the further side 

 of the bush and when I saw him next he was 

 on the tip-top of the highest of a little jvuigle 

 of Spanish Bayonets. Furthermoie the whole 

 space between us was overgrown with little 

 bushy oaks that are very hard to force through 



