HE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



43 



tragic incident. >fo sooner did a robin, 

 •n-hicb liad been putting the finishing 

 touches to her nest, in a tree near by, see 

 the distress of the chippy, than she took 

 wing, and darted in pursuit of tlie hawk. 

 Overtaking the robber, tlie robin at once 

 attacked him with much courage. She 

 dealt blow after blow with her beak on the 

 hawk's body, each blow being followed by 

 the scattering of a tuft of feathers plucked 

 from the plumage of the marauding hawk. 

 That party to the battle in mid-air seemed 

 dazed at first, and rose straight upward, 

 the robin following. Then the hawk 

 swooped downward, and turned abruptly 

 in another direction. Still the plucky 

 robin kept close, and at every stroke of 

 her beak the hawk uttered a cry of pain. 

 Thus the combat was continued in a nar- 

 row circle near the piazza for more than a 

 minute. The spectators were much excited. 

 The J' clapped their liands and tried to en- 

 courage the robin as much as possible, and 

 they were well pleased, indeed, when the 

 hawk dropped liis prev and fled afar. 

 The chippy fell like a plummet toward the 

 ground. It seemed as though it had es- 

 caped from the hawk only to be dashed to 

 death on the earth, when suddenly it found 

 its wings, and, fluttering for an instant, 

 gained a safe poise, and flew to the robin's 

 tree. Meantime the robin had returned to 

 her nest, where she resumed her work as 

 though nothing had happened to mar the 

 serenity of the peaceful afternoon. — Ex. 



Familiarity of the Chickadee. 



I thought that the readers of the Young 

 OoLofiisT might like to hear an account of 

 the familiarity of the Black-capped Chick- 

 adee, which I think is unsurpassed. While 

 choppiuiT wood, nearly a year ago. in a 

 sugar orchard, the Chickadees were very 

 plenty and a]ipeared quite tame for food, 

 and keeping up an incessant chattering. 

 They seemed so tame that I thought I 

 would see how near they would approach, 

 so I stood perfectly still and in less than 

 five minutes one was standing on one of 

 my feet, peering up into my face as if try- 



ing to determine what sort of an animal I 

 was. He seemed satisfied that I was harm- 

 less. After this investigation and gaining 

 courage he flew to a small branch about 

 two feet from my head, thence he hopped 

 on my shoulder. He surveyed me in a very 

 serious manner and very deliberately too, 

 so deliberately in fact, that I began to get 

 tired, and I moving slightly, he flew to a 

 neighboring tree and began to scold, which 

 collected a flock, every individual of which 

 seemed to think that he was called upon to 

 assist in the scolding. I hope never again 

 to receive such a scolding as I received 

 from those birds. If any of the readers of 

 the Young Oologist ever witnes-sed any 

 such incident, I should like to hear from 

 them. Hoping, yet hardly expecting, that 

 this article will be favorably received, I 

 remain Yours truly, 



Fred B. Spaulding, 

 Lancaster, N. H. 



Queries. 



What is Southern breeding for American 

 Goldfinch and for the Chewink or " Joree," 

 as we say, and which seems to express his 

 song ? 



Who has seen the Great Northern Shrike 

 as far South as 35 degrees '! 



J. T. P., 

 Rising Fawn. Ga. 



M.\Y 5, 1885. — I found a set of six Robin 

 eggs in a railrond bridge. To-day I found 

 a Blue-bird's nest in a hole in a tree con- 

 taining four Blue-birds and two Cow-birds. 

 F. L., Ashland, Ohio. 



North Turner Bridge, May 10, 1885. 



Mr. F. H. LnlUn : — I would like to say 

 a word in regard to Friend Singley's ques 

 tion in the Young Oologist about the 

 Yellow-billed Cuckoo laying in other birds 

 nests. Last summer while out collecting I 

 found a C'edar-biru's nest in an elm tree up 

 about fifteen feet from the ground. On 

 climbing up I found five Cedar-bird's eggs 

 and one egg of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 

 Let us hear from other collectors on the 

 subject. S. .1. O. 



North Turner Bridge, Me. 



