78 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 17-No. 5 



of the bed rooms the plaster was starting, 

 ing, and on this slight shelf a beautiful mossy 

 nest was fastened, and in which was the 

 usual number (for that year) of live pure white 

 eggs. 



These birds are equally at home in the do,,!- 

 yard, and in the solitude of the forest. On 

 April 23, 1882, which was early, during a drive 

 to entertain a friend, I took a stroll in a forest 

 of old timber, and on the face of a cliff or 

 steep rock under a slight projection, I found 

 an entire new nest all built that year, the mud 

 being still moist and the moss green. It was 

 lined with a few horse-hairs as usual, and 

 ready for the eggs. I could reach witliin 

 eighteen inches of the nest, although it was a 

 dangerovis place. "It was so near, and yet so 

 far," and no known means at hand to reach it, 

 when I dropped on my hands and knees and 

 invited my companion to step on my back 

 wliich he did, and examined the nest with 

 perfect ease. This nest was in a wild, rocky 

 scene, near Norwich, Conn. The rocks were 

 nearly covered with masses of " hard ferns." 

 I have described the above typical resting 

 places, but I have found them in every con- 

 ceivable position except on trees, shrubs, or on 

 the ground. 



Wherever a giant of the forest has been 

 uprooted, turning the roots upward, there a 

 I'hffibe's nest will often be found; under 

 bridges, on the beams, or on the walls or abut- 

 ments, no matter if the bridge is little more 

 than a culvert, on every conceivable kind of 

 outbuilding, inside and outside, even under 

 piazzas of buildings, where the occupants sit 

 within a few feet of them. I found a case of 

 this kind on the piazza of Alex. Temi)le at 

 Broad Brook, Conn. I never saw a nest 

 exposed to the rain from above. They are 

 everywhere a favorite, and the farmer that 

 will use his old revolutionary lire-arms on its 

 relative, the King-bird, will protect the Phojbe 

 bird, which lives entirely on insect life. 



Eeturniug once more to the nesting habits of 

 this bird, I would state that in 1882 I found a 

 nest far up the culvert below the waste-gate 

 of the Norwich, Conn., water works. During 

 that same year " J. M. W. " of Norwich, found a 

 nest in the hollow of an ajjple tree. He also 

 reports finding six eggs on three different 

 occasions, the latest being on July 10th. Our 

 earliest record is May 14, 1879, a set of five; 

 May 15, 1880, a set of five, from the bridge at 

 the head of Snipsic Lake, that were spotted. 



Junius A. Brand, of Norwich, Conn., 

 informed me that he once found a nest and set 



of eggs on the limb of an old white oak tree. 

 The tree was about twenty inches in diameter, 

 and the horizontal limb on which the nest was 

 found was about eight inches in diameter. 

 The limb projected about sixteen feet from the 

 body of the tree and the nest was about 

 twenty-five feet above the water. He also 

 reports four nests at one time on the beams in a 

 small old saw-mill with up and down saw. This 

 is not at all unusual, as the birds become 

 remarkably tame during the breeding 

 season. 



The Wood Pewee is a near relative of the 

 Pha3be bird, but it always builds in the woods 

 and on a small horizontal limb, and lays three 

 beautifully marked eggs. I have heard of five 

 eggs being laid, but have no positive evidence 

 of the fact. 



Jos. M. ]Va<lc. 



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 a copy. 



A RUSTIC CONCKET. 



" You kan't ketch nothin' with them thar things, 

 Wich yarn fer bodies an' feathers ler wings. 

 You must think trout is terrilile fools 

 Ter be ketchecl with such outlandish tools. 



" An' look at that pole — why that won't do ; 

 A good, big trout would bust it in two, 

 An' never think nothin' ov what he did, 

 As, quick as lightnin', away he slid. 



" Well, I'll be durn, you can shoot me dead 

 Ef here ain't a windlass filled with thread, 

 An' ther littlest sort ov thread at that — 

 Why, man, that wouldn't hold a gnat ! 



"You'll find a good place over here, 

 Under ther rapids tWvy an' clear. 

 You'd better take wdiiiis an' er hick'ry pole, 

 Or you won't ketch nuLliin', 'pon my soul ! '' 



Sixteen beauties, speckled bright, 



The basket bore ere the fall of night. 



He counted them o'er on the bank of fern, 



And all that he said was, " Wa'al — I'll be durn ! " 



— Outing for May. 



