82 



THE OOLOGIST 



curved over his back was making 

 every effort to escape the persecutions 

 of the two rascals in black and white. 

 We all remember the story in the 

 old reader about the Magpie teaching 

 the other birds how to build neests, 

 and indeed she would prove an able 

 instructor; so thoroughly has she 

 mastered the art of nest building. 

 This is from a standpoint of utility 

 however, for beauty of design and 

 workmanship has not entered into her 

 labor. The nest is a large, coarse, 

 baloon-shaped affair: some times much 

 larger than a bushel-basket. It is com- 

 posed of coarse and fine sticks and 

 twigs inter-woven into a compact 

 mass. This is lined with mud, dry 

 leaves, small twigs and rootlets. Nests 

 are used for a number of years, being 

 repaired each spring. 



An investigation of old Magpie 

 nests often proves profitable to the 

 collector, for it is not unusual to find 

 them occupied by owls and the small- 

 er hawks. In every case noted where 

 Magpie nests have been used by other 

 birds, the top of the nest had fallen in 

 from decay and the nest of the new 

 tenant arranged on top. 



To give some idea as to the number 

 of nests which may be found in a 

 small area, I with a friend located 71 

 nests one December day on a two 

 mile walk up the Puder River. Most, 

 of these were placed in cottonwood 

 trees and sometimes as many as five 

 nests were found in a single tree. The 

 lowest nest was in a stunted willow 

 and could be easily reached from the 

 ground, the highest was forty odd feet 

 up in a giant cottonwood. 



Business duties held me close to 

 Greeley, Colo., during the nesting sea- 

 son, but I found tim(! to locate seven 

 nests which looked good. The follow- 

 ing Sunday I returned to them but 

 found I was too early as the nests 

 held from one to five eggs each. 



The nest is so constructed that the 

 hand must be inserted to ascertain the 

 contents. This proved disastrous, for 

 when I returned for complete sets, the 

 eggs in every nest had either been 

 broken or removed. 



Like most birds the Magpie has his 

 good points. He is beneficial as a 

 scavenger and eats many insects and 

 seeds which are detrimental to the in- 

 terests of the farmer. Indeed "Sunny 

 Colorado" would be just a little less in- 

 viting if it were not for the ever pres- 

 ent Magpie. 



James B. Carter. 



Early Arrivals for Spring, 1915. 



In addition to one Meadowlark and 

 three Crackles that have stayed 

 around my home town all win- 

 ter, I find the early birds more anx- 

 ious than common, to get back to their 

 northern homes. 



After two warm days February 12- 

 13, three small flocks of Canada Geese 

 passed honking over tlie village, nortli- 

 ern bound. 



On February 10th our first Robin 

 appeared, carolling in a sort of timid, 

 half-apologetic way. Bluebirds how- 

 ever accepted the challenge and three 

 separate "sialis" have entrained at 

 our 40th parallel station. 



Still another sign tliat an obnormal- 

 ly early spring is down on the calen- 

 dar or else the birds have lost their 

 intuition. 



A little party of eight Cedar Wax- 

 wings alighted in my hard maple Sat- 

 urday evening, February 13th. just an 

 evening ahead of the stipulated mat- 

 ing time of Valentine day. They 

 squeaked for half an hour like a job 

 lot of oil-needing wheel barrows — then 

 leaped as one bird and wheeling sharp- 

 ly disappeared northward. 



Isaac E. Hess. 

 Philo, Ills., Feb. 15, 1915. 



