148 



THB OOLOGIST 



fluttering about on the tree trunks 

 nearby, uttering their peculiar cluck- 

 ing notes. 



The Red-bellied Woodpecker must 

 do an enormous benefit to the wood 

 lets, for they are continually creeping 

 about the trees picking at the crev- 

 ices where they obtain their insect 

 food. 



S. S. Dickey. 

 Waynesburg, Pa. 



Mourning Dove Sets. 

 H. F. Duprey of Dixon, California, 

 writes that he has a set of four of the 

 western variety of this bird, taken by 

 Alfred Shelton between Santa Rosa 

 and Petaluma, California. We like- 

 wise have sets of both three and four 

 in our collection of this western varie- 

 ty. 



Nesting of the Grasshopper Sparrow. 



(Ammodramus savannarum australis). 



Among the common birds I think 

 that the Grasshopper Sparrow is my 

 favorite. At least when I pass some 

 deserted field and catch the sound of 

 the faint Grasshopper-like notes of 

 this inconspicuous sparrow, I find that 

 the fondest memories return to me — 

 memories of past experiences with 

 this bird. And it is just these recol- 

 lections of days spent in the woods 

 and fields that makes the study of 

 birds and eggs so attractive 



I shall ever remember my first nest 

 of the Grasshopper Sparrow. On 

 May 15, 1908, I was slowly tramping 

 through a field of heavy grass which 

 lay on a steep hillside, when sudden- 

 ly, but a step or two beyond me, one 

 of these Sparrows dashed from the 

 grass and flew out of sight around the 

 hill. Upon close examination 1 found 

 the nest built in a slight tuft of grass, 

 and somewhat arched over. It held 

 four eggs. Dark grass stems and 

 stalks of weeds were the constituents 



of the nest; and it was lined with soft 

 blades of grass. I left the nest and in 

 two days returned to find that it held 

 five eggs. These were pure white in 

 ground color and were well spotted 

 with chestnut-brown. 



May 17, 1909, after hearing one of 

 these Sparrows singing in a pasture 

 field that lay part way up a hillside, 

 I made a careful search of the tufts of 

 grass: finally I found an arched nest 

 built in a deep depression in a grass 

 tuft. At this time it held no eggs. 

 On May 24, I returned and flushed 

 the female bird from five fresh eggs. 

 These specimens proved to be light- 

 er marked than those of the preced- 

 ing set, being blotched with finer 

 spots which were of a yellowish- 

 brown shade. 



A year or so later, during the first 

 week in May, while I was tramping 

 through a grassy orchard, high up on 

 a ridge, I was fortunate enough to 

 flush a Grasshopper Sparrow from a 

 tuft of grass where she had started 

 to build her nest. Upon a visit two 

 weeks later the nest was found to hold 

 five exceptionally lightly marked eggs. 

 These specimens were speckled witb 

 light reddish-brown, chiefly about 

 the larger ends. 



This year I locarert my last nest. 

 May 29, accompanied by two friends 

 I was walking through a level field, 

 covered with rather long grass, when 

 a Grasshopper Sparrow flew up in 

 front of us. A search revealed the 

 nest. It was built in an exposed sit- 

 uation beside a bare space of ground, 

 and was composed of dark grass 

 stems. In her hurry to leave the 

 nest the female scattered two of the 

 eggs on the ground. The flve eggs of 

 this clutch were the heaviest mark- 

 ed of all four sets, having large 

 wreaths of chestnut on them. 



S. S. Dickey. 

 Waynesburg, Pa. 



