THE OOLOGIST 



fruitless attempts. The female alone builds 

 the nest, weaving her body about and mov- 

 ing her feet to give it a firmness. 



28. — No Robins seen till late in the 

 (lay. This afternoon a female Cow Bird 

 ospied the nest and quickly hopped upon it, 

 although it was not entirely finished ; but 

 whether or no she deposited an egg was not 

 ascertained, for the Robin returned and 

 completed the nest before there was time to 

 examine it. If there were any eggs in it, 

 they must have been covered up. 



30. — No eggs yet. Birds are away. 



May 1. — One egg : 2, two eggs ; 3, three 

 eggs, each deposition being made in a four 

 hours' occupation of the nest. 



4. — No eggs to-day. Between this date 

 and the 10 one egg mysteriously disappear- 

 ed. The female began to sit upon the two 

 i-emaining eggs on the 4, and two young 

 birds were hatched on the 16 and 17 re- 

 spectively. 



28. — The young, to-day, after remain- 

 ing in the nest about 12 days, flew out of 

 the tree. 



— A Pewek's Nest found on May 30 was 

 placed in a shelf formed by an overhanging 

 ledge of rocks, six feet from the ground and 

 within twelve feet of the highest of the 

 Trenton Falls. It was almost directly over 

 the rushing water, which whirled and ed- 

 died with an unceasing roar, and was then 

 precipitated sixty feet into the abyss below ; 

 a remarkable instance of choice of situation. 



— The nest of a Black-billed Cuckoo built 

 in a bush three feet from the ground, was, 

 contrary to the rule, quite a handsome one. 

 The appearance was due to the free use of 

 soft materials, sticks being fewer than usu- 

 al. The lining and a good portion of the 

 nest proper were built of the soft portions 

 of moss and plants. It was, however, an 

 illy constructed affair, for it fell apart when 

 removed ; it seemed to be laid upon two 

 or three horizontal twigs of the bush, and 

 a puff of wind might have demolished it. 



— -June 24, Red-winged Blackbird's nest 

 with 4 eggs ; July 5 nest contained young, 

 who made their exit on the IG. 



— It is singular that there should be so no- 

 ticeable a disparity in the demeanor of birds 

 when they fear for their eggs or young. 

 The same species sometimes acts openly 

 demonstrative and at another displays no 

 emotion whatever. On June 28 we almost 

 distracted a Hermit Thrush by imitating 

 the cry of a young bird, but no young could 

 be found. On July 21, finding a Hermit 

 Thrush's nest, we uttei'ed the same cry to 

 call the parents, but, though they came, 

 they showed little or no solicitude, keeping 

 at a safe distance and remaining very 

 passive. 



Nest of the Chuck-will's- Widow. — 

 Mr. C. J. Maynard, says in the Birds of 

 Florida, of the finding of a nest of this bird : 

 " I have Iiad quite a number of the eggs of 

 the Chuck- will's- Widow in my possession, 

 yet I have found but one nest. 1 was walk- 

 ing through a hummock when one of those 

 black, half- wild hogs so common in Flori- 

 da, jumped up from a thicket in which he 

 had been resting and made off" among the 

 palmettoes. I looked after him mechanic- 

 ally when I observed a Chuck-will's-Wid- 

 ow start from the ground directly in front 

 of him. As this was the first of May and 

 as I had shot a female only a day or two 

 before which was about to lay, I at once 

 conjectured that the bird had a nest there. 

 Keeping my eyes carefully on the spot, I 

 hastened forward and, guided by the tracks 

 of the hog, soon found the eggs. There 

 were two of them and they were lying upon 

 the fragments of palmetto leaves without 

 any other attempt at a nest than a slight 

 hollow scratched in the debris. The bird 

 must have remained on them until the nose 

 of the intruding animal was actually over 

 her, for she appeared to start from beneath 

 his feet and she must have moved quickly 

 as he was trotting quite briskly. Unfor- 

 tunately, one of the animal's hoofs grazed 

 an egg, breaking a hole in the side, disclos- 

 ing the fact that they contained embryos 

 quite far advanced, which may partly ac- 

 count for the parent sitting so closely. 



