96 



THE OOLOGIST 



went to see for the first time a real 

 collection of birds' eggs and a real 

 Oologist. 



When I went to the door the first 

 thing he did was to take me up and 

 show me his eggs, and I think I almost 

 pestered him to death with the ques- 

 tion "Wasat." When I left he gave 

 me 1-5 crow and 1-4 English Sparrow 

 eggs and told me to come up again, 

 which I did. 

 Wilmington, Del. E. M. Kenworthy. 



Albino Blackbird. 

 On the tenth day of September, 

 1913, I had brought to me a very 

 oddly marked specimen of the bronzed 

 Grackle (I. q. Aneus). I had heard 

 of this bird several times during the 

 late summer, it having been noticed 

 with a small flock of the Grackles 

 feeding on the different lawns of the 

 city and was finally taken by a local 

 sportsman and brought in to me to 

 be mounted. It was of normal size 

 and proved to be a young male. Its 

 color was light greyish white, tail al- 

 most pure white with just a tinge oi 

 the gray, just enough so that the plu- 

 mage was not in any part a good clean 

 white color. The breast had a few 

 very dark brown feathers in a patch 

 as did also the tops of the wings at 

 the base and these extended across 

 the back between the wings. Eyes 

 were very light brown, beak light 

 drab, legs and feet black. Outside of 

 its plumage this specimen was no dif- 

 ferent in size and shape than any of 

 the Bronzed Grackles. It was taken 

 while in the company of a small flock 

 of the blackbirds and was still aliv? 

 when I received it as only a wing was 

 broken by a 22-calibre rifle ball. I 

 disliked very much to kill it, but final- 

 ly decided it would be next to impos- 

 sible to keep it alive, so it is now 

 mounted and in the home of the 

 sportsman who took it. I should have 



liked very much to have seen this 

 specimen after it had moulted, think- 

 ing that perhaps its new plumage 

 migiit have been perfectly white. 



O. M. Greenwood. 

 Notice. 

 The series of articles now running 

 in THE OOLOGIST by the editor re- 

 lating to collecting and preserving 

 the nests and eggs will continue to 

 appear at intervals of two months, 

 until the entire subject has been cov- 

 ered. 



The Worm-Eating Warbler. 



(Helmitheros virniworus) 

 In parts of South-western Penna, 

 the Worm-eating Warbler is a toler- 

 ably common summer resident. Ar- 

 riving late in April or early in May, 

 w^e find them flitting about the lower 

 undergrowth of wooded ravines or 

 steep hillside woods. Here they glean 

 many harmful insects from the vege- 

 tation. From time to time they sing 

 their dainty song which so resembles 

 that of the Chipping Sparrow. 



In Greene County, nesting time ex- 

 tends from May 14 to June 5. For 

 nesting purposes small ravines, well 

 strewn with fallen leaves, and con- 

 taining a splashing brook at their 

 bottoms, seem to be favorite places. 

 Some birds select steep wooded hill- 

 sides for their homes. The sight 

 chosen is ordinarily a depression at 

 the base of some small sapling. At 

 times a clumjj of woodland weeds will 

 serve the purpose of a nesting place. 



In a large wooded ravine some two 

 miles from my home I found the 

 Worm-eating Warblers nesting each 

 year. Once they built at the base of 

 a dogwood sprout. Here the female 

 Warbler deposed but two eggs, for a 

 luberly Cowbird added two of hers. 

 During another season the Warbler 

 placed their nest beside a fallen dead 

 limb: and chance favored them this 



