THE OSPREY. 



growth of bushes, among- which were 

 scattered on occasional pine or ce(hir, found 

 bird life abundant. Several \arictics of 

 Warblers were sinj^ing from llir bus'.us. 

 the occasional weird call of an ()li\c- 

 sided Flycatcher came from the top of a 

 burnt stub, which with the warbling of 

 the Purple l*^inches in the pines, the 

 sweet song- of the thick-l)illed Sparrow 

 and other species of the locality, made it 

 one continued concert. 



During- my stay I found four nests of 

 Cassin's Vireo, usually being led to tiu' 

 tree in which the nest was located by tlu' 

 clear l)ell-like note of the male, which 

 was invariai)ly found singing in the tree 

 in which the female was sitting- upon the 

 nest. One nest was suspended from a 

 slender limb of an alder near the creek at 

 a heig-hth of about twelve feet and could 

 not be reached. The bird remained quiet- 

 ly on the nest, showing- little regard for 

 my attempts to secure her treasures. Two 

 other nests were each five feet from the 

 g-round in small black oaks, being- more 

 or less hidden by the broad leaves and 

 both contained four young-. The fourth 

 nest was also in a black oak bordering- a 

 g-ully and five feet from the g-round, and 

 contained five young-. The female re- 

 mained upon the nest until I almost 

 touched her with my hand, when she flew 

 a few feet and showed the greatest solici- 

 tude for her unusually larg-e family. In 

 May, 1895, I found a nest of Cassin's 

 Vireo in the foot-hills near San Jose 

 which contained five small young-, but 

 these are the only instances in which I 

 have found nests of any of the Vireos 

 with more than four eg-g-s or young. 



All of the Vireos nests were compactly 

 made, the chief composition being fine 

 g-rass with a few leaves intermixed, and 

 all were decorated on the sides and bot- 

 tom with small pieces of white cocoon, 

 similar to that found beneath the loose 

 bark of trees. This trait of decorating- 

 the nest I believe to be constant with 

 Cassin's Vireo. Taken altog-ether this 

 handsome little Vireo is one of the most 

 interesting- birds of the mountain region. 

 Late one evening while we were sitting 

 in camp on one side of a clearing, the 

 center of which was brilliantly lighted 

 by the moon shining- down through the 

 lofty pines, the soft, weird cry of "poor- 

 will, poor-will," came to us from out the 

 darkness on the opposite side of the 



woods, and one c(mld almost wish that he 

 might linger always in the mountains 

 with their varied and interesting bird 

 life. 



Some Observations on the Spotted 

 Sandpiper, 



l',V I. II. IIAKKIS. jK., KANSAS CITY, .M(^. 



THIS most interesting and dainty 

 little fellow is an abundant species 

 along the Missouri Kiver at this 

 j.oint (luring the migrating season. 



The low willow bushes that skirt the 

 Clav County l>ank afford a means of aj)- 

 proaching unobserved quite near to the 

 water; and under cover of these willows 



I have lain for hours and watched the 

 Sand])ipers, being not more than \\\c teet 

 from them. This bird is a shy creature 

 and is startled at the least disturbance. 

 When slightly alarmed he will start up 

 with shrill cries and invariably fly straight 

 (mt over the water curving- up stream 

 and then into the bank, where he will 

 stand inotionless save an occasional "tip 

 up" for several minutes; then if nothing- 

 hai>i)ens he will quietly take wing and tly 

 to the si)()t from where he was frig'htened. 

 (See Figure). But if g-reatly alarmed 

 he will, with much i)iping, hastily with- 

 draw to a place more convenient for his 

 safetv, usually the opposite bank. I have 

 even seen him take to the timber to evade 

 danger. 



The fiig-ht is irregular and jerky, char- 

 acteristic of the snii)es and sandpii)ers. 

 Another tvpical sandpiper characteristic 

 that it has is that of tipping its body up 

 and down. It does this when walking or 

 standing and simietimes it will suddenly 

 stop running, apparently for no other 

 reason than to tip up. 



