36 



THE OOLOGIST. 



ground and in brush piles have certain- 

 ly been found before, but one does not 

 stumble on them every day. 



The aborigines of the present Martin 

 race were said lo have nested in holes 

 of trees. Perhaps some of them do so 

 still, but I am not the fortunate discov- 

 erer. Nevertheless,! found a deviation 

 in their mode of nesting the other day. 

 While passing an electric light tower, 

 the lamps of which are 125 feet from 

 the ground, I saw numerous Martins 

 flying in beneath the shades of the 

 lamps. Had there not been a penalty 

 for climbing the tower, 1 would have 

 made the ascent. As it was, I was 

 positive they nested in the shades, and 

 a day or so later was told that they did 

 by one of the company's men. 



The English Sparrow long ago adopt- 

 ed the lamp shades as a nesting site, 

 and although repeatedly their nests 

 have been torn out, thej^ still persist 

 and a few manage to stay. The bright 

 glare of the lamps at night, and their 

 swinging in the wind does not disturb 

 them in the least. These birds are get- 

 ting so exceedingly" numerous in the 

 city, that they are spreading out into 

 the country, and not a farm-house is 

 without them. They are now to be 

 found, nesting in company of the Tree 

 Swallow, Crested Flycatcher in the 

 woods, and Woodpeckers, and many 

 invade the domain of the Barn and 

 Cliff Swallows, appropriating some of 

 their nests and building their own 

 therein. I know of one instance in 

 which the owners of a large colony 

 were driven away and instead of a 

 colony of Cliff Swallows, it is now one 

 of English Sparrows. 



Changing the subject, I ran across a 

 nest a few years ago of the Crested 

 Flycatcher, built in the corner of a 

 dancing pavilion under the roof. Near- 

 ly every day crowds of picnickers fdled 

 the place but perhaps not one in ten 

 knew that ne.-t was there. 

 The Mourning Dove has always been 



to me an interesting bird. It deviates 

 from its natural mode of nesting more 

 than one would naturally suppose. 

 Frequently 1 have stumbled on one of 

 their nests in the middle of a grain 

 field. The top of a high stump, is often 

 chosen, but I have alwaj's wondered 

 what possessed that bird to lay her two 

 white eggs in with those of a Robin. 



One often sees Night-hawks sailing 

 over the city, but little suspects that 

 they lay their eggs on the hot graveled 

 roofs of the highest buildings. 



The Towhee Bunting seldom leaves 

 the ground to build her nest, but once I 

 discovered a nest and four eggs in a 

 crab tree, live or six feet from the 

 ground, but, Srtrauge to say, it was de- 

 serted shortly after. 



While driving along a country road, 

 I flushed a Field Sparrow off her nest, 

 which was built within a few inches 

 from the ed -e of the i-o:id. This re- 

 minds me of a Meadowlark's nest found 

 in a peculiar place out in Kansas. 



Many of the more isolated prairie 

 roads in Kansas and other ijrairie 

 states are nothing more than two well 

 beaten paths, l.yiug parallel, and separ- 

 ated by a ridge of sod, the grass on 

 which has grown to a goodly height. 

 This is due to the fact that nearly every 

 one drives a team, and a single horse 

 conveyance is comparatively but little 

 seen. In fact, when one is driven over 

 one of these roads, the poor animal has 

 a hard time between trying to keep his 

 balance on the top of the ridge, and 

 trotting a speed pleasing to his unap- 

 preciative driver. Presumably some cf 

 the 1 eaders have seen such roads ; 

 where I once lived, they were styled 

 "tvvo-hoise i-oads." Driving along one 

 of tliese Kansas highways, a Meadow- 

 lark was Hushed from beneath the 

 horses' feet, and upon getting out and 

 searching. I found her nest and 

 specklid eggs. The nest was built in 

 a bunch of gras.« growing on the ridge 

 of sod ill the miildle of tlie road, appar- 



