50 



THE OOLOGIST 



limb of a piue tree, against the trunk, and 

 about fifty-five feet above the ground. The 

 locality was a boggy swamp, iu the vicini- 

 ty of the Charles river, (eastern Mass.) 

 On ascending to the nest I found it to con- 

 tain two Owlets, but a few days old, which 

 were covered with a bluish down. Their 

 eyes, bills, and tarsus were light blue. 

 While examining the young, both the 

 adult birds kept up a continued hooting 

 and snapping of the bill, which latter hab- 

 it is notieable in all the Owls, when they 

 are angry. They were not at all wild, but 

 remained perched within a hundred feet of 

 I'le, until a posse of Crows, which were 

 fast increasing iu number, forced them to 

 fly, and they then drove the poor Owls 

 around the neighborhood, and all the time 

 kept up a horrible screaming. On the side 

 of this nest was a large rabbit, which was 

 quite fresh ; doubtless caught the night be- 

 fore, and on his back and sides were marks 

 of the powerful talons of his captor. There 

 was at least a quart of small bones in the 

 nest ; also a large number of feathers of 

 Ruffed Grouse, Blue Jay, Common Duck, 

 and ^fne lot of feathers from a Hen. I 

 left the Owlets in the nest, and on a subse- 

 quent visit found that they had flown, so 

 as they were not disturbed, there is a very 

 good chance of my being able, after next 

 April (1879) to send another account to 

 The Oologist of another "laying" in 

 the above described nests, of Hyrnmm 

 Nehulosum and Buho Virginiamis. 



C. A. H. 



The Cuckoo. 



Xe Vidllant was the first to tell us how 

 the Cuckoo deposited its egg in the nest of 

 another bird. He had shot a female 

 Cuckoo, and opening its mouth found an 

 egg lodged in its throat. A similar case 

 is reported to the Lehure Hour by J. 

 Fraser : In the month of June, 1867, I 

 spent a few weeks about four miles from 

 Windsor, Eng., in the near vicinity of the 

 well-known Burnham Beeches. Saunter- 

 ing along the edge of a common, one bright 



sunny morning, I stepped aside to have a 

 look at a Stonechat's nest I had discovered 

 three days previously, when it contained 

 but one ^^g. This nest was placed in a 

 thick plant of heath, about ten inches 

 from the ground, well concealed by the 

 heather, except one little space through 

 which the bird passed to and from her 

 nest, and through which its contents were 

 visible. On my approach the hen bird 

 flew ofi" the nest, and I observed that four 

 eggs were deposited. Two Cuckoos were 

 flying about in a most peculiar manner, 

 and one of them uttering peculiar sounds. 

 Both of them seemed to be in a wild state 

 of excitement, and my first impression was 

 that they might have a young bird in some 

 nest near by, and that danger threatened 

 it in the shape of a weasel, or prowling 

 cat ; but approaching nearer, I found that 

 they were being mobbed by the two little 

 Stonechats. Sometimes both Cuckoos 

 would skim rapidly close by the nest, the 

 Stonechats darting at them open-beaked, 

 and uttering piteous cries ; again they 

 would fly off rapidly to the edge of a wood 

 at a little distance, pursued by the inale 

 Stonechat, the female always hovering 

 near her nest, and accasioually alighting 

 on a bush close to it. 



Could it be possible that the Cuckoo had 

 deposited her egg in the Stonechat nest, 

 and was this the manner in which the own- 

 ers expressed tlicir resentment at the in- 

 trusion ? Taking advantage of a longer 

 flight to the wood than had yet been made, 

 I ran towards the nest, and saw at a glance 

 that it contained the four Stonechat eggs, 

 and no more. Presently back came the 

 Cuckoos, the one which I took to be the 

 male "• cuckooing " in a wonderful manner, 

 uttering the note much more rapidly than 

 is usual, and the female swooped down 

 very close to the nest, paused for a mo- 

 ment in her flight, and, being vigorously 

 attacked by the Stonechats, glided past ; 

 but I saw tliat her beak was partially open, 

 as though she carried something within 

 her gape. Evidently her object was to 



