September, 1893.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



125 



of June 2d the first egg was laid, and on 

 June 3d another and the third on June 4th. 

 This completed the set and the process of 

 incubation was commenced. 



The eggs were as heavily marked as any 

 I have seen, which fact made me wish to 

 take them, but I concluded to let them 

 hatch and feel amply repaid that I did. 



The female sat the longest on the eggs 

 and when she was tired she stepped out on a 

 limb, uttered her ]jeculiar cry and flew away. 

 The male generally came around before she 

 returned, then she would soon relieve him. 

 On the 2 1 St of June the eggs hatched and the 

 young were fed by both parent birds. The 

 time it took to hatch the eggs, as you may 

 see, was seventeen days. I don't know 

 whether this is a litde fast or slow. The 

 young were fed on small grasshoppers, katy- 

 dids, and other small insects. 



There were innumerable skirmishes with 

 Blue Jays. Each one, however, turned out a 

 victory for the Flycatchers. They would dart 

 at the Blue Jays in much the same manner 

 their cousins the King Birds do. The young 

 left the nest on the afternoon of June ist. 

 They remained about the place for some 

 days and then left. I think these birds did 

 very well to hatch and rear their young 

 under such di-sadvantages, for there was a 

 yard of seven cats that watched them very 

 attentively, and every bird escaped from their 

 clutches. J'^J'» C. Brozt'ii. 



Carthage, Mo. 



A Vacation in Pennsylvania. 



The twelfth of June saw us seated in a D. 

 L. & W. train, speeding across the flat Jersey 

 country toward the Water Gap on the Dela- 

 ware. Previous to 1893, my summers had 

 always been spent in the mountains of north- 

 ern Vermont, and this southern country of 

 Jersey seemed almost tropical. From the 

 car window we saw, instead of the familiar 

 stone walls of Vermont, picturesque snake 

 fences suggestive of Jersey lightning, though 

 covered with graceful vines. I afterwards 



found those very vines far from pleasant. 

 " But that is another story." 



As our train sped on, we saw the distant 

 Blue Ridge come nearer and nearer, until 

 we found ourselves looking out on as charm- 

 ing a country as can be found anywhere, 

 {'he hills were not high compared to real 

 mountains, but they were wonderfully beau- 

 tiful, being craggy and wild, covered with 

 forest, broken here and there by a little farm. 

 .■\s we sped through the woods, I could imag- 

 ine it when quiet, with the cautious Fox stand- 

 ing on some log, looking up and down the 

 track, while a Grouse clucked in alarm at sight 

 of him. After a most glorious ride, and what 

 was very satisfactary to the inner man, a very 

 good dinner, we reached the Water Gap. 

 My brother had sent a carriage up from the 

 city, and we spent a few minutes in tying it 

 securely to Mr. W.'s big wagon ; then step- 

 ping in, we had a grand twenty-mile drive 

 through the fragrant mountain air, saturated 

 with sunshine. As we drove along the ridge, 

 we looked down into the Delaware, alternat- 

 ing in deep still pools and noisy white rapids. 

 Farther on we crossed that famous old trout 

 stream where gentle Thaddeus Norris loved 

 to fish, the Brodhead. As we rounded a 

 curve beyond it, a little flock of dainty Caro- 

 lina Doves rose with a soft whistling of wings, 

 and, flying up the hillside, we heard them 

 cooing to each other with that bell-like plain- 

 tive note — wellnigh a song. Once on the 

 plateau, we drove through a country dotted 

 with farms, with nut trees and orchards along 

 the road. There we found the gaudy Balti- 

 more Oriole in quantities, all busy as bees. 

 \Ve saw a few of Baity' s shy cousin, the 

 Orchard Oriole, and I heard his song for the 

 first time, though he was an old friend of 

 my brother's. 



As we rattled along over an excellent road, 

 we made inquiries of our host, Mr. W., as to 

 getting a horse for the summer. We found 

 our advent had created quite a stir, and all 

 the old nags of the country had been dieted 

 and physicked for a week past. ,\% the re- 



