146 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 17-N0. 10 



Notes from Dartmouth, N.S. 



The last time I had this pleasure was on 

 June 19, and now I beg to submit notes 

 for balance of the season, and trust they 

 may prove of interest to your readers. 



June 21. To-day being a holiday, I 

 started for the woods about 9 a.m. It 

 was raining pretty hard, but I kept on and 

 borrowing a long ladder carried it out to 

 the Bay-breasted Warbler's nest that I 

 had found building on the I3th. This 

 was up about twenty-five feet and placed 

 way out on the end of a very long branch 

 of a very big black spruce, and was im- 

 possible to secure without the ladder. The 

 ? was scared off the nest on my going up, 

 and I was delighted to see that it held six 

 eggs ; so the bird has completed the nest 

 and laid the six eggs since the 12th, which 

 left nine days for her to do it in. The 

 eggs were fresh. 



I then went and took the Bay-breasted 

 Warbler's nest that I found built on the 

 1 6th and looked at on evening of the 17th, 

 when it held one egg, and also looked at 

 on evening of the 19th, when it held three 

 eggs, and to-day it held five eggs. This 

 nest was out on end of a black spruce 

 limb, about fifteen feet up from the ground. 

 I shot the ? ; eggs fresh. It still raining 

 hard, I left for home, changed my clothes, 

 had a bite to eat, and started out again, 

 and was very glad I done so, as I found 

 and brought back a Cat Bird's nest, with 

 three eggs. I saw the old birds over in the 

 swamp about a week ago, and seeing the 

 $ again to-day, I laid down gun and fish- 

 ing basket and went to work, and in about 

 half an hour I had the nest. The ? was 

 on it, and I stood and looked at her for 

 some little time, then scared her off. The 

 nest was up about seven feet, on a thick 

 black spruce limb, and is quite a bulky 

 affair, and is composed of leaves, dry grass, 

 roots, bits of the fir tree and lined with 

 fine black and white roots. The eggs 



were incubated, and of a plain, bluish- 

 green color. This is the first Cat Bird's 

 nest I have ever taken in Nova Scotia, and 

 I did not think that they bred in this vi- 

 cinity. The birds are not plenty by any 

 means, as I have noticed very few of 

 them during my trips through the various 

 parts of the country. I did not disturb 

 the old birds, and have decided never to 

 shoot another specimen, unless it is an 

 unknown species and absolutely required 

 for the sake of indentification. 



On my way home I took nest of Junco, 

 with four eggs. 



June 24. Ran out before breakfast this 

 morning to look at Ruby Kinglet's nest 

 that I found building on 5th and that held 

 one egg on the iSth (when it was exam- 

 ined by me for the first time), and to my 

 surprise it still held one egg, which was 

 cold, and the inside of nest damp, and I 

 could see, for some reason or other, that 

 the birds had deserted it, and I was sadly 

 disappointed. However, still hearing the S 

 singing close by, I was satisfied the ? was 

 not far off and had built another nest, so 

 I went to work, and in one hour and ten 

 minutes I had it, and this time it was up 

 20 feet, near the top of a tall, slim black 

 spruce, and contained six eggs. I did 

 not take it, as I wished to see if set was 

 complete. On my way home, I found 

 a Hudsonian's nest with four young, all 

 feathered and ready to fly. 



June 25. To woods all day. I started 

 out to look for Olive-sided Flycatcher's 

 nest, as I had located a pair of the birds 

 on the 8th. After I got on the ground 

 I started in, and in just three hours I had 

 the nest. (I always time myself to see liow 

 long it takes.) It took me a long time 

 to get at the ? and a longer time to locate 

 the nest, for the simple reason that I was 

 looking for it way up on the big high 

 spruces where I had found them last 

 year, whereas this particular nest was up 

 about 15 feet, out on the limb of a small 



