THE OOLOGIST. 



75 



but had scarcely started up when an 

 owl flew from the cavity. What was 

 my surprise when the presence of two 

 eggs was announced. We took them 

 and continued our tramp. 



On our return a second suri)rise 

 awaited u.s, for the eggs were so badly 

 inculjated that we succeeded, onlj'^ with 

 great dillicxdty even after a liberal ap- 

 plication of caustic potash, in blowing 

 them. They must have been deposited 

 before the seventh of the month. 



The twenty-seventli we again took 

 the held and were rewai'ded with a set 

 of two eggs, these were perfectly frtjsh. 

 The thirtietii, we took two other sets of 

 two eggs each, one set slightly, the 

 other bailly incubated, one of these sets 

 was taken fi'om an old Hawk's nest at 

 au elevation of si.xty-seven feet. 



We thus closed one mouth's collect 

 ing, well satisfied and convinced that 

 February would furnish still richer 

 finds. 



O. K. Williamson, 



Lawi'cnce, Kas. 



A Trait of the Carolina Wren. 



I liave seen a good deal written lately 

 in the Oologist about the Carolina 

 Wren, but have never seen anything 

 about what is a distinct characteristic 

 around here. 



I mean their fondness for building in 

 artificial places such as I will describe. 



Two or three years ago I saw a pair 

 of Wrens carrying building material in- 

 to a thick evergreen bush, in the yard 

 of an unoccupied house near where I 

 live. I could not imagine what kind of 

 a nest they were Iniilding as there was 

 no hollow in the l)ush. At last my cur- 

 iosity got the better of my discretion 

 and 1 went to the bush and parted the 

 leaves. One of the birds hurriedly flew 

 out and I saw the nest about half done 

 inside of an old watering pot. 



The birds quit the nest but I had 

 found out something. I put an old 



paint bucket in a hedge near by and 

 they started to build in it. But a child 

 meddled with it and they quit that one 

 too. Then a fi'iend and myself com- 

 menced to put up tin cans, old coffee 

 pots, etc., for Wrens, My friend got 

 about five sets and I got one. 



This was the spring and summer of 

 1890. In 1891 I was more lucky with 

 my cans. Apiul 11, I got a set of five 

 from a can stuck between the boards of 

 a fence by myself. The next three sets, 

 all of five were in a stump, post and 

 bank of earth, respectively. On June 

 ITth I got a set of five from a can that 

 I had put in a thicket. On June 2r)th I 

 got a set of four from an old cofl'ee pot 

 I stuck up in the woods. And on July 

 5th I got a set of three from a can that 

 a non-collecting friend had put up for 

 me. 



I have a veiy pretty specimen of a 

 nest that a boy gave me. It is in a 

 small round gourd with a hole in one 

 side, such as are hung up for Martins. 

 He put it in a hedge in his yard and the 

 Wrens built in it. 



All of the nests are made of pretty 

 much the same materials. Leaves, 

 grass, roots, pine, straw, moss, lined 

 with horse hair and roots generally con- 

 stitute a nest here. 



The nest in the post was the deserted 

 nest of of a Blue Bird, ])rcttily arched 

 over with greeu moss. 



Albert K. HEYWAiiD, Ju., 



Columbia, S. C. 



Visiting a Bald Eagle's Nest in Virginia. 



I see in Oologist of January, '92, the 

 experience and adventures, of some of 

 our collectors, and tiiought some of 

 niiiu^ might be of interest to others. 



Our Editor warns us not to meddle 

 with Sparrows, So I will try to keep 

 as far out of their way as possi- 

 ble, and will take up the abode of the 

 Bald Eagle. 



After repeated inquiry I found the lo > 



