THE OOLOCilS'J. 



03 



birds collected their material from the 

 live trees, peckiug away so 'violeutly 

 that I tliought they would each end 

 with a violent headache. There was 

 plenty of fallen bark and i)it!j of all 

 kinds on the ground. Why all thi.s un 

 necessary work? Probably they want- 

 ed only material which was clean and 

 tlry, knowing that a nest in a hole in a 

 tree becomes damp and ill-smetling 

 soon enough. Then the large majurity 

 of birds are neat and clean oy nature — 

 their lately built nests looking like 

 "brand-new' baskets — never being 

 made of secoi.d ^rade material. 



Once the mah^ lie v to the tree vv it!i 

 some delicate morsel, made a soft, 

 sweet, cooing sound, whereupon Airs. 

 Nuthatch came out and received it 

 out of his bill. The way they treated 

 each other was pleasant tn see. One 

 might almost say to some people: ''Go 

 to the Nuthatches thou unlovely cme." 



It was surprising how much bark 

 they gathered and how the work still 

 went on even into t.vilight. The male 

 quit work before sunset however — 

 showing which side of the labor ques- 

 tion had his sympathy. 



How well Mrs. Nuthatch was ac- 

 quainted with the trees about, was 

 proven by the directness with which 

 she flew to the tree wh'ia she Lad just 

 culled some material for her nest — 

 straight to the nest in and out again 

 and straight to the tree with scarcely a 

 pause. 



I visited the nest three day.>» later. 

 The pair were laboring industriously 

 as ever. When I visited the place 

 again on April 11th all was cjuiet, .save 

 my Lord Nuthatch, who was calling 

 away in the woods after his peculiar 

 manner — that contented call as of a 

 birtl with its mouth full. 



Niditication was evidently over at 

 last. Did the l)ird.s have to fill up a 

 cavity before building the nest or was 

 the nest composed almost entirely of 

 bark? When I went that way on the 



eighth they were still collecting bark. 



After sutliii. nt time had elapsed for 

 the full setting of <'ggs to have been 

 laid I went out to obtain the eggs if 

 po.^sible. 'J'he bark was rotten so that 

 it ft'll olT when I struck it with my 

 climbing irons. When I reached the 

 hole, which was in a bulging knot and 

 led to the interior of a cavity of some 

 dimensions. I very soon found the set 

 was not destined for my cabinet. The 

 nest was visible, but the part which 

 contained the eggs was around out of 

 sight. The tree was too large and 

 thick and the position of the hole made 

 it loo great a piece of work to chop or 

 saw. 



So I climbed down; glad after all in 

 the poetic region of my mind that the 

 collector side had failed. For if ever in- 

 dustry and patience on the part of 

 birds deserved to reap the reward I 

 thought n)y Nuthatches did. 



EUNEST VV. ViCKEKS. 



To All M'chigon Observers 



In the April OoLOGiST, and also in the 

 Nat.ukal Science News, reference was 

 made to the formation of our Michigan 

 Academy of Sciences, and an invitation 

 extended to those disposed to join. 



Many responded to the request for 

 observations on our State Birds, and we 

 are promised aitl from all quarters of 

 the State, though of the many observers 

 in Michigan, a number have not com- 

 plied by letter, as yet. 



It is now time to begin observations, 

 and the following suggestions are offer- 

 ed to those who wish to gather Michigan 

 notes, and luaierials for the ''M. A. S." 



(leneral observations on arrivals and 

 departuies are solicited and which are 

 to be kept after the manner of the ob- 

 servatictns for the Government Depart- 

 ment at Washington. But in addition 

 to general notes, it has been suggested 

 that a special family should be studied 

 in a thorough manner. After delibera- 



