96 



THE OSPREY. 



simply sail from a hig-her (should it be 

 there ) to a lower level. 



It is very combative, as well as ex- 

 tremely bold and audacious. It is never 

 molested or killed by any one, as it is 

 very beneficial to the country, its main 

 object in life appearing- to be "to extermi- 

 nate the rattlesnakes and tarantulas of the 

 reg-ion.'' Many peculiar stories are 

 told of its habits and disposition by old 



plainsmens for some of these, however, we 

 must make some allowances. 



This bird is so fearless that I have not 

 infrequently walked up to within ten to 

 fifteen feet of it, while it would stand 

 with bristling- feathers and flashing- eyes 

 watching- me; and then finally- turn and 

 run away over the sands and among- the 

 sasre-bush. 



Infertile Eggs, 



BY KEV. P. B. PEAKODY. 



5KVERAL writers in recent numbers 

 of ornitholog-ical papers and mag-a- 

 zines have spoken of "fresh" eg'g-s 

 as being- found in sets that were incu- 

 bated. I have often wondered that 

 this scientific blunder has g-one so long- 

 unreproved. How often one finds, in 

 autumn or winter, nests from which the 

 young- had long- since flown, while yet 

 "the nest contained "fresh" egg-s! 



At nig-htfall, two years ag-o, I flushed 

 a Vesper Sparrow, in a fallow field. In 

 the nest that I g-roped for and found were 

 two young, just hatched, and three 

 "fresh" eg-g-s. In July of this season, 

 at marg-in of a meadow copse, I ran 

 upon a King-bird's nest, — one young-, 

 nearly ready to fly, and three "fresh" 

 (^g-g-s. Last September, while mowing- for 

 recreation, I found two old nests of 

 the Ruddy Duck, containing- each, shells 

 and an eg-g- — no — not fresh ^ by any 

 means, althoug'h by aid of patience and 

 carbolic-acid solution they were made 



suitable to place in my cabinet. In some 

 seasons, there seems to be an unusual 

 number of infertile eg-g-s deposited, the 

 Sparrows and certain aquatic birds being- 

 especially proflig-ate of specimens worth- 

 less for their purpose but useful for ours. 

 Eg'g"s of rare beauty are often thus ob- 

 tained. A most exquisite Bobolink's eg-g-, 

 was taken (by watching- the mother 

 "homing-" at a distance) from a bog- 

 nest containing- five young-, one day old, 

 and the eg-g- was perfectly "fresh." 



The phenomenon of freshness in eg-g-s 

 that have been incubated, is easily ex- 

 plained. Every thrifty house-wife knows 

 that hen's eg-g-s not fertilized will keep 

 far long-er than fecundated eg-g-s. 



Autumnal quest for infertile eg-g-s in 

 nests laid bare by falling- of the leaves, 

 will open an inviting- field tt) that whole 

 class of sentimental ornitholog-ists whose 

 human conservatism teaches many a les- 

 son which some others of us would do 

 well to heed. 



Nest Building of the Downy Woodpecker, 



BY ARTHUK M. FARMER. 



rr 



R 



RUP, rup-rup, rrup, rup," and a 

 faint, thoug-h sug-g'estive, scratch- 

 ing-, first called my attention to 

 the freshly cut chips 13'ing- at the base of 

 a half-dead apple tree, which stood near 

 the old field road which skirted the bank 

 of the Nashua River, a few miles from 

 Clinton, Mass., May 3, 1896. 



Glancing- upward I beheld a newly 

 wroug-ht cavit}' frameing- the tail feathers 

 of a Downy Woodpecker. It proved to 

 be the male. Cling-ing- there by his sharp 

 little talons, he was hang-ing- head down- 



ward and working- furiously. I watched 

 there nearly half a day, and during- that 

 time the birds took turns at the work, 

 changing- every half hour or oftener. 



Frequently while the male was work- 

 ing- he would stop a minute and hop out 

 among- the branches eyeing- me ; then 

 flying- to the opposite side of the tree 

 and below the nest, he would circle up to 

 it and beg-in work ag-ain. 



At first, before he went down out of 

 sig-ht, while he clung- to the rim of the 

 hole, I could see his tail feathers quiver 



