THE ospr?:y. 



19 



curve, advancing- more rapidly than the 

 "squawk," and alig-hting- abrtiptly after 

 a shorter flig-ht. They are nesting- in 

 this part of the swamp, and now and then 

 we chance upon their loosely constructed 

 platform, placed among" uprig-ht stems 

 about ten inches above the water, and 

 containing- from three to five eg-g-s ( thoug-h 

 I never found live in a nest). This 

 deeper part of the swamp is the favored 

 resort of the Long--bille(l Marsh Wrens, 

 and their loud rattling- chant causes us to 

 peer among- the stems to loceite the au- 

 thor. There he is, cling-ing- along the 

 side of a vertical culm, with his short 

 tail thrown well over his back and his 

 head almost erect as his little throat vi- 



of the swamp-lake. His is indeed a 



whee/vV note, rasping- through a throat 

 which has not l)een oiled this season at 

 least, but it is unmistakably the note of 

 a Blackbird and can be identified by a 

 blind stranger. However, we can plainly 

 see the author, and as he perceives that 

 he is observed, he ^lips slowly d(jwn the 

 stem upon which he is perched, still 

 rasj)ing- out his famous notes, and soon 

 flies away to continue his wheezy caden- 

 zas. Other voices arrest our attention, 

 for flitting- hither and thither on a])i)ar- 

 ently tireless pinions are numerous lilack 

 Terns, uttering- sharp squeaks as they 

 pass above our heads and then move on 

 up or down the open water. Frequently 



PORTION OF OUIV1':k I.AKK. 



brates with his harsh rattle. Now he 

 slips down the stem, clutches more 

 tightly to retain his place, and ag-ain 

 loudly rattles his happiness, before he 

 whirs away with his head somewhat ele- 

 vated in his curious flig-ht. Their damp, 

 cocoanut-shaped structures are found 

 here and there, and we insert our Anglers 

 into those we find, but none of them con- 

 tain eg-g-s. Like the House Wren, this 

 species can not restrain its joy in the lo- 

 cality of its home, and its noticeable 

 chant is a pretty certain index of its 

 homes in the vicinity. 



Somewhat more particular than the 

 song- of the Marsh Wren is the queer 

 utterance of the Yellow-headed Black- 

 bird, found scattering-ly in this portion 



one will pause in its flig-ht over a partic- 

 ular spot, and hover a moment with 

 reg-ularly vibrating- wing-s, sometimes 

 dropinng- into the water a moment later 

 to pick up a floating- morsel before resum- 

 ing- its restless flig-ht. Out on the 

 floating- "punkin" stems we can see them 

 edig-hting-, where they are evidently 

 courting-, for they bow and smirk with 

 all the zeal and solemnity of Flickers or 

 Cowbirds, thoug-h they do not rest hmg- 

 before they are up and ag-ain coursing- 

 and (|uartering over the water, g-raceful 

 and Swallow-like 



And now we have reached the limit of 

 the space assig-ned us by the recently 

 fledg-ed editor of the infant Ospkey. Per- 

 haps our rambling- notes have added 



