56 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 17-No. 4 



I was attracted by numerous bright red berries 

 tliat were floating in the water near its edge. 

 Visions of turkey and cranberry sauce made 

 my mouth water, and, although the turkey was 

 out of tlie question, the thoughts of cran- 

 berry sauce was temptation enough for me to 

 stop and gather tliem for dinner next day. 

 There is something in the flavor of spring or 

 frozen cranberries which the solid ones do not 

 l)ossess, and, as far as my taste is concerned, I 

 like the spring ones best. While gathering 

 the berries the Hyler's cry now and then piped 

 up to tell me that spring-time was near at 

 hand. A little way off, a pair of Hawks kept 

 tilings lively with their harsh cries as they 

 were mating the necessary arrangements for 

 housekeeping before moving in for the season. 

 After I had gathered a quart of berries, the 

 threatening clouds began to force me to 

 make the bt^st of my way home, tlius putting 

 to an end a spring ramble which will be ever 

 fresh in my memory. 



Andrew XIcIioIn, Jr. 

 Asylum Station, Mass. 



How to Find the Nest 

 Bobolink. 



of the 



The nest of the Bobolink will remain undis- 

 covered until you know how to find it. I have 

 had much experience with this bird, and I 

 never found its nest until I thoroughly under- 

 stood its habits. 



Last year I silent part of the spring at 

 Amherst, Mass. In one of my walks I discov- 

 ered several fields where Bobolinks were 

 breeding. 1 immediately set to work to dis- 

 cover their nests. After flushing several birds 

 and searching over a radius of fifty or sixty 

 feet from their point of flight I had to own up 

 defeated. I tried this for a week, but no nest 

 rewarded my efforts and I decided to i)ractise 

 new methods. 



I had noticed that ninety-nine times out of a 

 hundred the bird flushed was not on the nest, 

 but simply feeding, and when by accident I 

 flushed one from the nest she invariably rose 

 quite a distance off. As I would approach 

 these fields the birds (mostly mules) would ri.se 

 in all directions and alight on the nearest 

 fences. After observing these facts I em- 

 ployed my new tactics. 



Rising early the next morning I reached the 

 fields in good time. Starting from one corner 

 I ran all over the field shouting as loudly as 

 possible. Of course a perfect swarm of Bob- 



olinks flew up, and after scolding over my 

 head for a moment flew away out of sight. I 

 now had the whole field to myself. In the 

 centre grew a large, solitary maple tree. Into 

 tliis 1 immediately climbed and began to 

 watch. After waiting about an hour I saw a 

 single female Bobolink flying cautiously over 

 the field: seeing nothing and believing all safe 

 she suddenly stopped and dropped swiftly 

 downwards into the grass. I marked the spot 

 with my eye and, descending without noise, 

 I walked slowly and softly toward the jdace 

 I had marked. 



Whirr-rr-rr! Up she flew, and I, stooping 

 over, saw a sweet little nest with six eggs 

 directly beneath my eyes. 



I practised this method continually and it 



seldom failed. If there be no natural cover, 



build a small cylindrical brush blind with 



orifices through the side for seeing; but do 



not fail to cover the top, that no in<iuisitive 



Bt)bolink can fly overhead and peer in. 



n. II. 117/ //p. Jr. 

 IJoston, Mas . 



Unmarked Eggs of the Red-Shoul- 

 dered Hawk. 



On April 18, 1891, I took a set of Ked- 

 shouldered Hawk's (Bitteo lineatiis) eggs that 

 contained an almost entirely unmarked speci- 

 men. As it lays in the cabinet no marks 

 whatever can be discerned upon it, but by 

 holding it close to the eye there aie a few 

 faint scratches of chestnut no larger than the 

 point of a pin, and none exceed a sixteentli of 

 an incli in length. It is as near nn unmarked 

 specimen as could be made without being 

 entirely so. 



One of the other eggs has a white ground 

 color, and is evenly spotted over the entire 

 surface with bright specks of umber and is a 

 beautiful egg, while the other has a ground 

 color of dirty gray, with three larger blotches 

 on the small end, and small specks of chest- 

 nut over the rest of the surface, and they 

 measure as follows: 2.0;}xl.69; 2.08xl.(i9; 

 2.08x1.08. 



This is the first specimen that I have col- 

 lected with as few marks on it, and think it 

 quite a freak. 



[Unra.arked eggs of the Red-shouldered 

 Hawk are not uncommon, but they are not 

 as commonly found as those occurring in sets 

 of the Red-tailed Hawk. — ,/. P. JV.] 



