Sept. L889.] 



AND OOLOGTST. 



135 



and switch and snap so that any attempt at 

 stalking is impossible. Well, anyway the oak 

 "scrub" was no worse than the pond, so at it 

 I went, and when less than half way through 

 my jay bird started to come back and I brought 

 him down. In that thick cover it was about 

 an even thing whether I found him or not, but 

 after about an hour's search I came ui^ou him 

 stone dead and covered with little red ants. 

 In such cases it is well to sprinkle the speci- 

 men thoroughly with Pyrethrum powder be- 

 fore taking it in the hand. If not you will 

 have to sprinkle yourself at once, and the jay 

 is smaller and takes less powder. Then if it's 

 a warm day the specimen must be skinned at 

 once. Of course sometimes you will come 

 across a specimen in an easy place and secure 

 it at once but the chances are that the jay sees 

 you first, and when that is the case make up 

 your mind for a good long chase. My "best 

 day" I secured six, but by not skinning them 

 in the field did not preserve all. 



Many little incidents occur to vary the mo- 

 notony of the day. A buck jumps out of the 

 cover before you when like as not you have 

 only dust shot in your gun. Alligators some- 

 times approach the intruder in a way that 

 looks hostile, but they seem on the whole to 

 be harmless. Late one afternoon I chanced 

 upon a bear. Poor little fellow! I was really 

 sorry that I had a load of buck-shot that time 

 for he was such a little chap and so painfully 

 lean that it was really a shame to shoot him. 

 Furthermore it was such a tough trail back to 

 my quarters that I was forced to leave him to 

 the buzzards. One claw and the "glory," 

 such as it was, was all I carried away with me. 



I think that the Florida Jay must raise two 

 broods in a year. I found young scarcely able 

 to rty in August and some of the natives told 

 me of taking eggs in May; and I found one or 

 two nests with very fresh "signs" about 

 them. 



There is a strange superstition about this 

 bird and I have heard the same or a similar 

 one about the Blue Jay also. Some one tells 

 you that you cannot find a " Jay bird" on 

 Friday. You ask why and you are told some- 

 what reluctantly — for it's an unlucky thing 

 to talk about — that on that day they all go to 

 hell and carry a stick to the devil. They don' t 

 have to do it. They are simply " bad to that," 

 This is one of the most widely distributed of 

 any bird fables that I know. I have heard it 

 from Maine to Florida and from all classes of 

 people and all races, white, black and red. 

 The Indians say there are none in the " Happy 



Hunting Lands." They go and look in four 

 times every moon and carry a stick to mark 

 the way back. Walter Roxie. 



Nesting of the Great-crested Fly- 

 catcher in Ontario Co., N. Y. 



Mr. C. H, Wilder, in his "County Natural 

 History Notes" {Ontario County Journal), says 

 of this bird {Mi/iarchus crinitus): "Summer 

 resident. Common. Breeds." Now at the 

 time his notes were published (June, 1887), I 

 was not very familiar with the habits of this 

 species, although I had seen one or two nests, 

 but during tlie seasons of 1887, 1888 and 1889, 

 I have made special observations, and now 

 look upon the bird as one of our moi"e common 

 and most conspicuous summer residents. 



It is very unusual for me to enter any large 

 wood without seeing or hearing one or more 

 of them. They usually keep well up in the 

 tops of the trees, but their loud spirited note 

 attracts the attention of the most casual 

 observer. 



Although this bird is more often heard in 

 the depths of the forest, the nest is to be 

 looked for in some old orchard where the 

 trunks are hollow or decayed, and the boughs 

 have been broken off by stones. If upon near- 

 ing one of these "old-timers" you hear tlie 

 cry of the Great-crest, you may rest assured 

 that your search will be rewarded with one of 

 the most beautiful sets of eggs which will ever 

 grace your cabinet. 



My experience in three cases has taught me 

 that the birds return to the same nest in alter- 

 nate years. The nest is always placed in a 

 hollow, horizontal limb; usually in one which 

 has been broken off and decayed back two or 

 three feet into the limb. Ten nests examined 

 by me were placed in such situations. Tlie 

 nest is composed of dried grass lined with 

 feathers, and in nine cases out of ten contains 

 a piece of snake-skin. 



My three sets consist respectively of four, 

 five, and six eggs, of which the one with six is 

 by far the most beautiful. The eggs in tliis 

 set average larger than those in the other two. 

 They measure: .90x,70; .94x.72; .85x.65; 

 .92 X.71; .90X.78; .88x.70, and are very thickly 

 penciled with purple-chocolate or lilac running 

 in a longitudinal direction on a clay-buff 

 ground. The other eggs are more pointed and 

 less highly colored than these. This Fly- 

 catcher arrives from the South about May 8th. 



Eli((ii J. Durand. 

 Canandaigua, N. Y. 



