212 



THE OOLOGIST. 



made that the eggs could easily be seen 

 from the under side, as is frequently 

 the case. The most elaborate nest we 

 have ever seen we found June 16, 1891, 

 much larger interiorly than the typical 

 nest, composed chiefly of tha ever pres- 

 ent oak catkin (for I have yet to find a x 

 nest into the composition of which this 

 article does not enter) embracing some 

 of the green leaves of the beach limbs 

 to which it was attached, festooned with 

 light brown beach bud-scales, strings of 

 several varieties of spider cocoons, a 

 few pieces of "down" from the syca- 

 more ball, a little bit of moss, and sev- 

 eral blades of grass hanging down from 

 the bottom about four or five inches, 

 which latter generally characterize the 

 new nests. 



We have never read of but one brood 

 being reared by these birds, but a set of 

 three taken near the middle of July, '91 

 would seem to indicate that there is 

 sometimes a second. The nest was 

 hung well out on a slender maple limb 

 about sixteen feet from the ground by a 

 shady and rather quiet road and, direct- 

 ly over a gateway through which the 

 vehicles were passing several times a 

 day and near a low wet piece of ground. 

 This set taken within a few days an- 

 other set was laid, a set of two, the only 

 set comprising any other number than 

 three that we have ever found, though 

 Davie states that occasionaly four are 

 laid, however, one of the eggs pi'oved to 

 be minus a yolk and the bird did not 

 set long. 



The eggs averaging about .75x.55 in- 

 ches, having a ground color of rich 

 cream color, and being sparingly speck- 

 ed and dotted with light brown, with 

 the larger dots and greater number 

 about the larger end, they are almost 

 iudistmguishable from those of the 

 Traill's Flycatcher {E. traillu), it is said 

 the nest, however, being entirely differ- 

 ent, the latter being placed in an up- 

 right fork and l)uilt after the manner 

 of the Yellow Warbler [Dendroica (es- 

 tiva. 



In this locality acadicus is quite com- 

 mon and as j'ou are walking through 

 some quiet shady damp woods you are 

 suddenly startled by a loud, quick, em- 

 phatic "What-d-scc TT-Virt^rf-see, " probab- 

 ly followed by a series of low, twitter- 

 ing notes, sounding as though the bird 

 were peevishly talking with itself, then 

 you see him dart by with a snap of the 

 bill and alight on some low limb near 

 by, and possibly hear another note, as 

 soon as he has swallowed his insect, 

 very much like the ^j»ee< iveet of the 

 Spotted Sandpiper [Actitis macular ia,) 

 Avhieh it sometimes gives vent to. 



The following incident it seems to me 

 might be of interest to those who are 

 debating the question whether or not 

 the bird is endowed with something 

 more than mere instinct; a nest found 

 June 13. 1891 contained but two eggs 

 and, as it was in a place where it Avas 

 likely to be found by certain "small 

 fry," we did not deem it safe to leave 

 them, so taking them, we substituted 

 two small smooth stones wrapt in paper 

 somewhat the same shade as the gx'ouud 

 color of the eggs. Visiting the nest 

 four days later we found that one of 

 the stones had been removed, the paper 

 taken from the other, and the third 

 egg laid, which we took, but undesign- 

 edly left the stone. Happening to be 

 passing the spot nine daj's later we no- 

 ticed the bird sitting on the nest, and 

 to our greater surprise found she was 

 setting on that same stone. Our cur- 

 iosity was aroused and we were anxious 

 to know how long the bird would thus sit 

 on this "hard cruel stone," or if linally 

 she would succeed in hatching from it 

 a little Acadicus (for we are ever told 

 that patience will surely accomplish its 

 end), but when four days later, after 

 she had been setting for two weeks (no 

 doubt a much greater length of time 

 than is required to hatch the eggs), we 

 found her still sitting there, our com- 

 passion for her preveuteil our carrying 

 our investigations any further anil we 



