THE OOLOGIST 



for the vigor with which the Crow Black- 

 bird and Green Heron are destroyed is cer- 

 tainly detrimental to their increase. 



I'rochihis colubris is not to be considered 

 entirely a flower-garden bird, for it may be 

 seen almost as often in the woods as out of 

 them. The flower-decked glades and even 

 the deep gullies are a favorite resort for 

 these little emeraldine creatures. They 

 build their nests in these retreats, frequent- 

 ly ia the very places where the collector 

 would not think of lookiug for them. The 

 young birds are much like the females in 

 color, and are shyer than, though as inquis- 

 itive as those we see about our flower vases 

 and window-gardens. 



The Nashville Warbler (Helminthophaga 

 mficapilla) has always seemed to us a silent, 

 melancholy bird. We have ever met with 

 it sitting alone in some low tree or bush, 

 not shy and seemingly not very active. Out 

 of a number of specimens seen and taken, 

 but few manifested any of the surprise or 

 timidity our approach usually called forth 

 from other species. If any line of similar- 

 ity can be drawn between their color and 

 habits, it might be said that both agree in- 

 sofar as sober qualities are concerned. 



Perhaps no species of well known bird 

 has so pitiful and plaintive a cry as the Kill- 

 deer, but there are few that can better elude 

 the patient search of the collector than one 

 of these birds when wounded. With that 

 agonizing note in its mouth, it plunges into 

 the underbrush with a broken wing, and 

 then, ceasing the cry, worms its way in a- 

 mong the dead leaves and under roots of 

 trees where one seldom has the fortune to 

 find it. They will plunge into the mid- 

 dle of a wood, down into the tangled, thick 

 undergrowths to escape the shooter. The 

 number of birds of many species lost in this 

 way during a season is very gi-eat. 



How the Chimney Swallows did 

 Congregate.* 



T)EFORE the days of brick chimneys, and 

 to some extent since, these birds used 

 to congregate in multitudes about certain 

 large hollow trees, where they bred regu- 

 larly, and, according to some, spent the 

 winter also. Williams, in his "^ Natural 

 and Civil History of Vermont," published 

 ia 1794, relates the following concerning 

 three "• Swallow trees" which came under 

 his observation. " The species called the 

 house or Chimney Swallow, has been found 

 during the winter, in hollow trees. At 

 Middlebury in this State, there was a large 

 hollow elm, called by the people in the vi- 

 cinity the Swallow tree. From a man who, 

 for several years, lived within twenty rods 

 of it, I procured this information : He al- 

 ways thought the Swallows tarried in the 

 tree through the winter, and avoided cutting 

 it down, on that account. About the first 

 of May, the Swallows came out of it, in 

 large numbers, about the middle of the day ; 

 and soon returned. As the weather grew 

 warmer, they came out in the morning with 

 a loud noise, or roar, and were soon dis- 

 persed ; about half an hour before sun down, 

 they returned in millions, circulating two 

 or three times round the tree, and then de- 

 scending like a stream, into a hole about 

 sixty feet from the ground. It was custom- 

 ary for persons living in the vicinity, to vis- 

 it this tree, to observe the motions of these 

 birds. And when any persons disturbed 

 their operations by striking violently against 

 the tree with their axes, the Swallows would 

 rush out in millions, and with a great noise. 

 In November, 1791, the top of this tree 

 was blown down, twenty feet below where 

 the Swallows entered. There has been no 

 appearance of the Swallows since. Upon 

 cutting down the remainder, an immense 

 quantity of excrements, quills, and feath- 

 ers, were found ; but no appearance or rel- 

 icks of any nests. Another of these Swal- 

 low trees was at Bridport. The man who 



*Merriara's Review of the Birds of Conn., p. 59- 



