246 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Indigo Bunting {Passerina cyanea). 

 This bird is rather common here, arriv- 

 ing by the middle of May and staying 

 through July. It may breed but it is 

 doubtful. 



Red-poll {Acanthis linaria). I have 

 seen but two of these birds here, and 

 that was about the first of September 

 this year. One was alone and the other 

 Avas with a flock of Chickadees. 



Glover M. Allen, 

 Newton, Mass. 



The Birds in the Bush Fields in Summer. 



It has occured to me, that the readers 

 of the "Oologist" located here and 

 there over Eastern North America, 

 might be interested in an account of 

 the birds spending the summer in a 40 

 acre bush field, near Washington. As 

 I have occasion to visit such a field 

 nearly every day from Ai^ril till Nov- 

 ember, sometime spending many hours 

 of the day there, my memory serves me 

 readily in recalling its bird-life. The 

 field is surrounded by a grand forest of 

 ■of oak, hickory and chestnut, in which 

 the Wood Thrush, Wood Pewee,Scarlet 

 Tanager, Blue Jay, Red eyed Vireo, 

 White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina 

 Chickadee. Black and White Creejiing 

 Wai'Iiler, Tufted Titmouse, Golden- 

 crowned Accentor, Yellow-billedCuckoo, 

 Whip-poor-will and Golden-winged 

 Woodpecker are common. 



In the field, especially along the bor- 

 der of the woods, the ever present Cat- 

 bird scolds at you, with her cat like 

 mewing, her nest, of course, being hung 

 in the alders and tall black-berrj^ bushes. 

 Here and there among the bushes all 

 over the pasture, the Brown Tfirush and 

 the Chewiuk make themselves heard; 

 and their nests are frequently found, 

 the Chewink in one case at least, plac- 

 ing its nest in a bush, about a foot from 

 the ground. The Marjiand Yellow- 

 throat is abundnant, its nest 

 never being quite down on the ground, 

 and the eggs not unfrequently having 



peculiar pen-like markings, somewhat 

 after the manner of the Oriole and the 

 Vesper Sparrow. The Field or Bush 

 Sparrow is in every part of the field, 

 delivering its plaintive melody, and 

 breeds abundantly. Occasionally the 

 drowsy melody of the Prarie Warbler 

 is heard. Not infrequently the Carolina 

 Wren startles one with his spirited but 

 rather monotonous melody. The King- 

 bird perches on the tops of the bushes, 

 and cuts his curves in quest of insects. 

 The Cardinal calls to you in his quaint 

 whistling tones, while his plainer mate 

 nests patiently in the bushes. 



But the most noticible bird-voice to 

 one from more northerly latitudes, is 

 that of the Yellow-breasted Chat or 

 Crazy-bird, as the boys sometimes call it. 



It toots, clucks, whistles and chats, 

 till its varied notes become .so common 

 as scarcely' to attract attention. Should 

 yoii approach its nest, hung in a thicket 

 of bushes, it will scold you in notes not 

 imlike those of the cat-bird, only with 

 more of the pathos of anxious grief. 

 These syllables of complaint sound not 

 unlike cree-oo c/'cc-oo. -This is one of the 

 birds which may be heard occasionally 

 at any hour of the night. 

 Bob-white's Avhistle not iufiequently 

 greets one, and the Indigo bird is a 

 common songster, often delivering its 

 spirited warble while soaring high in 

 air, after the manner of the Golden- 

 crowned Accentor. The Blue-bird is 

 also thei'e, and nests in the holes of 

 trees along the edge of the woods. In 

 like manner the Great-ci'ested Fly- 

 catcher passes its time between the 

 field and the woods. The bright colors 

 of the Goldfinch ornaments the bushes, 

 and the cooing of the Mourning Dove 

 is occasional^- heard. Once in a while 

 one hears the Robin. 

 Overhead one sees the Turkey Buzzards 

 soaring majesticall.y, and sometimes 

 the Red-shoiildcred and the Broad- 

 winged Hawks. 



J. H. Lan(jille, 

 Kensington Md. 



