92 



THE OOLOGIST 



the only time I ever saw the bird 

 laere. So it not only added a new one 

 to my county list but added a new one 

 to my list of breeding birds. 



As it had rained at intervals and 

 the brush was very wet, I was pretty 

 well soaked so headed back to the riv- 

 er, coming out at a little field. I had 

 just about reached the bank of the 

 river when I saw a Hawk flying down 

 over the middle of the stream. A 

 flock of swallows were in hot pursuit. 

 When nearly opposite me a couple of 

 Crows flying over, turned and started 

 in pursuit. The Hawk then turned 

 and came in right past me. As it 

 neared me it uttered a peculiar note. 

 A sort of rapidly repeated "kak, kak, 

 kak," quite different from any hawk 

 note with which I was familiar. As 

 it passed me very close and low down 

 I saw it had a Swallow in its talons. 

 I could also see its markings very 

 plainly and had no trouble recogniz- 

 ing an adult Duck Hawk. If I had 

 only had my old "Parker" along 1 

 would have secured a fine specimen 

 and something new. This is the only 

 Duck Hawk I ever saw to recognize, 

 although I have often wondered why 

 I never met it during migrations. 



I saw nothing more unusual on my 

 way home but was very much pleased 

 with the result of this trip for even if 

 I didn't add anything to my collection. 

 I added two new birds to my County 

 list, also a new breeder besides hav- 

 mg spent a very interesting day. 



R. B. Simpson. 

 Warren, Penna. 



A Peculiar Nest of the Clapper Rail. 



Along the whole New Jersey sea 

 coast the Clapper Rail is everywhere 

 an abundant bird. Time was, when 

 the natives sallied forth with basket 

 and collected their eggs as a delicacy 

 for the table but stringent laws have 

 since put an end to this practice. As 



a rule the birds are limited to the salt 

 meadows, skilking in the long marsh 

 grass and along the edges of the 

 streams which penetrate the marshes 

 in all directions. 



It was late in May, the 22d, to be ex- 

 act, of the year that I was exploring 

 a tract of country near Cape May, New 

 Jersey. The object of my search was 

 the Henslow's Sparrow and with this 

 bird in mind I had turned back from 

 the salt marshes to the drier fields 

 covered with a growth of last year's 

 dead grass. The presence of a sing- 

 ing male in a small field promised a 

 possible reward and I started on a sys- 

 tematic search, beating the clumps of 

 dead grass with a switch, when sud- 

 denly a large brown bird jumped clum- 

 sily up in front of me. Glancing down 

 I saw the nest, hidden under a large 

 tuft of dead grass, rather scantily 

 built and containing ten eggs of the 

 Clapper Rail. Meanwhile the bird 

 from a distance of about sixty yards 

 kept up a noisy clatter. 



Now the peculiar feature of this 

 nest was the fact that it was placed 

 in a high, dry field, covered with dead 

 grass, surrounded on all sides by 

 woods and fully half a mile from the 

 salt meadows. Why the bird came to 

 leave her accustomed haunts I am at 

 a loss to know. The constant persecu- 

 tion by the Field Crows on the salt 

 meadows does much to decrease the 

 number of eggs hatched but I am loath 

 to credit the Rail with an amount of 

 intelligence that would direct it to the 

 safety of the locality where it was 

 found. 



Richard C. Harlow. 



I think THE OOLOGIST is getting 

 better with every issue. 



Richard F. Miller. 



