174 



OKXITIIOLOGIST 



[Vol. U-Xo. 11 



Last, but by no means tlie least, among the 

 thrushes of our county is the American Robin 

 {Meritla micjratoria). Arriving by the middle 

 of March (and sometimes earlier) and remain- 

 ing until November it is our most abinidant 

 summer resident. Not infrequently :i single 

 one or so will remain over winter, as was the 

 case the winter of 1880-87 and the winter of 

 1887-88. 1 have recorded a robin wlien the 

 thermometer registered "2° below zero. Tlie 

 nest is placed almost anywhere in any conven- 

 ient place, and the number of eggs is almost 

 invariably four. In one instance, of which I 

 know, a nest of the robin v.as found which 

 contained spotted eggs. The young i»irds are 

 hatched sometimes as early as May 1st, and 

 two or sometimes three broods may be raised 

 in a season. 3r>?7 F. Ponson. 



Medina. N.Y. 



Appearance of the Tit-lark and Black- 

 throated Bunting in Worcester 

 County, Mass. 



Difficult Climbs. 



On the morning of October ;>d. while out col- 

 lecting. 1 was crossing a large plougiied field 

 in pursuit of a bird, wlien suddenly a fi<»ck of 

 al)out twelve birds rose before nu'. From their 

 note I knew tliey were something I had never 

 seen before. I looked around and saw one on 

 the ground at some distance to my left. 1 ad- 

 vanced and shot it and found it to be a Tit- 

 lark. I looked for more but could not find 

 any as tlie Hock had gone. 



I went on and returned in al>out two or three 

 hours an<l found a flock of about fifteen or 

 twenty. I shot two fine specimens before they 

 could get out of reach. Later in the day I 

 shot a Black-throated Hvuiting. This was the 

 only one 1 could find. 



According to Mr. C K. Reed this is tlie first 

 appearance in Worcester County, Mass. For 

 several years ornithological notes liave been 

 taken in Fitchburg, and these birds have never 

 been recorded l)efore. This year, as usual, I 

 find the Snowbirds in great numbers over a 

 belt of about thirty miles which I have trav- 

 elled, but last year there were none here except 

 on February 5th and fitli. when three or four 

 were reported to me. I did not see any. 



The Red-bellied Nuthatches are here also; 

 these liave not been seen before for several 

 years. 



October 19th Mr. Kimball and myself saw a 

 rtock of about seventy -five Tit-larks near Lun- 

 enburg, Mass. I. (\ Grcetie. 



I have read with much interest 3Ir. (i. B. 

 Bender's well written account in the June 

 number O. & O. of an expedition into Texas 

 for the eggs of the Swallow-tailed Kite. 



That which particularly struck my admira- 

 tion in this narrative was the description of 

 the tremendous climbs made to the nest by 

 Mr. 'i'homas S. Gillin, and I think the readers 

 of this jouinal as well as myself would be 

 pleased to have a more particidar a<'count of 

 how they were accomplished. 



One climb is described as up a "Sycamore 

 six feet in diameter, the first branch eighty 

 feet from the ground, the nest over one hun- 

 dred and twenty feet up. on a branch about as 

 thick as a man's arm." 



Anotlier nest is " built out on a very small 

 limb, afterwards found to be over two hundred 

 feet from the ground, and no limbs for over a 

 hundred feet." 



Oreat Scott and little fishes! Just think of 

 it! Two hundred feet! Why the very tliought 

 makes a man's head swim. Mr. (i. is certainly 

 entith'd to the belt as the ])rince of climbers. 



But liow was this hundred feet surmounted 

 without limbs for lesting places? Was a strap 

 or claw gloves used? I thought I had done 

 some tall climbing in my time, but .Mr. (iilliii 

 discounts me half way. 



There .are some such trees on Spoon River, 

 as Mr. Bender describes, but where they stand 

 straight and without limbs 1 would as soon 

 undertake to ascend the outside of a shot 

 tower as to try to climb uj) the trunk of sucli 

 an (me. 



True, when I find a hawk's or an owl's nest 

 in one of these collossal giants of the forest I 

 generally manage in some way to reacli it, usu- 

 ally by calling to my aid ropes, or improvise 

 an Indian ladder, or perchance, where tliere is 

 one handy, by falling a smaller tree against 

 tlie one containing the nest, and getting to tlie 

 limbs in this way. 



Tlie task of getting up tlie smooth straight 

 trunk of a Sycamore six or seven feet in di- 

 ameter would be about as easy as climbing up 

 the side of a mill. It might be accomplished 

 by the use of a rope or climbing strap. But 

 think how much strap would be required to 

 encircle a man and then go around a tree 

 eighteen or twenty feet in circumference. 



Will Mr. Bender kindly tell us just how 

 these tremendous climbs were accomplished, 

 and oblige Dr. W. S. Strodi-. 



Herir.uUnte. Ill, 



