80 



THE OSPREY. 



tions; but this last year was the earliest 

 of any, the first bird being- seen on April 

 27, sitting- on the top of a post in a corn- 

 field. 



The first arrivals are always males, 

 and they sit shivering in the cool April 

 weather, trying to get into a sunny place. 

 As warmer weather approaches he may 

 be seen perched on the top of a weed 

 stalk, or a dead branch; or preferably the 

 topmost strand of a barbed-wire fence 

 along a country road-side. There he sits 

 watching for a fly or bee to appear, when 

 he immediately pursues, his wings work- 

 ing nervously- and his tail spread wide. 

 After capturing his prey he invariably 

 returns to the same perch again, and 

 waits for another victim. His bill is 

 admirably adopted for this purpose, being 

 broad and flat and hooked at the tip. 



The song is a series of rasping noises, 

 sounding like coarse laughter, and is 

 uttered while on the wing, after mount- 

 ing high up in the air emd suddenly 

 tumbling down, uttering his uncouth cry, 

 as if he had lost his senses. The pug- 

 nacity of the Kingbird is well known, and 

 he will attack anything from a bird of 

 his own size up to a Crow, Hawk, Owl or 

 boy, who appears near his nest. 



Nesting is begun about the 20th of 

 May, and sets are completed by the first 

 of June or thereabouts. The nest is 

 placed usually in an oak tree; about 15 

 feet up on an average, although I found 

 one nest on the top of a cedar post on the 

 prairie, only four feet up. 



The nest is easily found, and is a very 

 bulky structure, outwardly composed of 

 a miscellaneous lot of rubbish, such as 

 rags, strings, weeds, sticks, grass, etc., 

 but finely cupped and lined with grasses, 

 fine roots, hair and string. 



The eggs are usually four in number, 

 commonly three and very rarely five, and 

 are too well known to need description. 



THE WESTKKN KINGBIRD. 



This is a rare accidental visitor and 

 confined wholly to the prairie regions in 

 the Western part of the State. 



CHESTED FLYCATCHEK. 



This is a decidedly rare breeder in this 

 locality though more common further 

 South, but is nowhere abundant. I have 

 met with the species but twice; once 

 while driving on a country road in 1887, 



I saw two birds on a Cottonwood tree in a 

 thickly wooded part of Ramsey Countv; 

 but they were very wary, and could not 

 be approached. 



On June 16, 1894, while collecting 

 Spotted Sandpiper's eggs, four or five 

 miles out of St. Paul, in a rolling, hilly 

 district full of ponds amid the patches of 

 woods, I saw a female fly to an old dis- 

 used telegraph pole on an old country 

 road, and enter a hole about ten feet up. 

 I immediately investigated and found an 

 old Red-headed Woodpecker's hole filled 

 up with weeds, twigs, roots and string, 

 lined very thickly with grass, hair and 

 the ever present snake skins, three in 

 number. After cutting away for half an 

 hour with an old dull knife, I got at the 

 nest, which contained an exquisite set, 

 six fresh eggs of a very dark flesh color, 

 marked and scrawled with reddish brown. 

 They are much darker specimens than 

 any others I have in my collection from 

 other localities, and a little smaller. The 

 set measures .80x.62, .80x.62, .80x.60, 

 .79X.60, .81X.64, .82x.62 inches. 



PHCEBE. 



This very abundant bird arrives the 

 earliest of the family, coming from the 

 first to the tenth of April in this locality, 

 and in the latter part of March on the 

 Southern border of the State. 



The Ph(jebe is the best known and 

 cherished of the family, and few persons 

 are unfamiliar with its pleasant, sub- 

 dued "pe-wee," which gives it its name. 

 It has many popular names, such as 

 "Bridge-bird," "Pewit," "Water Pewee," 

 etc. The nest is placed almost anywhere 

 except on the ground or in a tree. 



At our summer resorts, the Pewee 

 places its nest in boat houses, or on piaz- 

 zas of the summer cottages, and becomes 

 quite fearless, as it is very rarely molest- 

 ed. I have known a Phoebe to sit on her 

 nest on top of one of the porch pillars 

 while persons were sitting and moving 

 around within ten feet. 



The eggs are usually five, three or four 

 when interfered with by Cowbirds, and 

 very rarely six. About thirty per cent are 

 more or less speckled with brown around 

 the larger end. 



The Phcebe usually returns to its old 

 nesting place year after year, and the 

 nests become very large. I have found 

 double and triple nests. In the wooded 



