THE OOLOGIST. 



59 



Gleanings from My Note Book. 



{Continued from last issue.) 



April 18— Barn Swallows arrived 

 here today— 8 of them. Yesterday I 

 noted Flickers for the first time. About 

 50 Gulls arrived this morning. 



April 22. — It rained last night so I 

 left my ''bike" at home and went over 

 my 15 miles of Hawk route afoot. An- 

 other climb to the Red-tail's nest re- 

 vealed but two eggs so I put them in 

 my pockets and came down jab by jab, 

 to the tune' of a pair of angry Hawks' 

 screams. While packing the eggs I 

 was surrounded by a band of Ruby- 

 crowned Kingkts, who were being en- 

 tertained by a lot of Chickadees. Just 

 as I left the woods I heard the llute-like 

 voice of the Wilson's Thrush. The 

 second Red tail was near the nest but it 

 was empty and in fact she did not use 

 it nor could I locate her nest anywhere 

 else. From here I crossed over the 

 hills to the valley of Potter Swamp, 

 where bird life differs from any other 

 valley because of so many Woodpeck- 

 ers. Here there are hundreds of old 

 stubs bordering the woods so that no 

 doubt this is the reason of their abund- 

 ance. Nine miles south in my valley, 

 or rather, the first one east of Potter 

 valley, I seldom see a Red-headed 

 Woodpecker, but in Potter valley they 

 are very common, as are the Red- 

 bellied, Yellow-bellied, Hairy and 

 Downy Woodpeckers. From here I 

 turn homeward, deciding to follow the 

 crest of the hills, but it was a long nine 

 mile tramp through birdless fields and 

 woods. In the valleys the air resounds 

 with noisy Flickers, sweet carolings of 

 Vesper Sparrows and other common 

 birds, all in abundance but the hills are 

 yet dreary and barren of bird life. As 

 I neared home I struck for the valleys, 

 crossing several ravines, in which I 

 heard Louisiana Water Thrushes in 

 nearly full song. 



April 24. — After a short supper and a 



still shorter cup of coffee, I pushed my 

 wheel up hill for 2 miles to visit a nest 

 of Red-shouldered Hawk. I found her 

 at home but she had laid but two eggs 

 so I left them. This is a late date for 

 this pair to be nesting as I have always 

 taken her full sets by April 12. Later 

 comparison with 5 sets that I had taken 

 out of these woods, which show the 

 same type, prove that this is a new fe- 

 male, which probably accounts for the 

 latef nesting. Spotted Sandpipers ar- 

 rived last night, and Towhees yester- 

 day. 



April 26.— At 6:30 p. m. I rode my 

 wheel 2 miles and called on a pair of 

 Red-tailed Hawks and although the fe- 

 male looked strong and healthy, and 

 had a vociferous voice, yet she had 

 only exerted herself to lay one egg — 

 and that's all she did lay — so I left it, 

 65 feet up in a big onk, to tho tender 

 mercies of a group of Crows that were 

 amusing themselves with these Hawks. 

 On my way over I saw a Pied-billed 

 Grebe dabbling in the creek, while 

 overhead a solitary Duck was winging 

 his way northward. After dark I^heard 

 a Wilson's Snipe's "heavenly music" as 

 he zigzagged about over the swamp, 

 which was rudely interrupted by a 

 startled Green Heron who emptied the 

 contents of his voice upon the air. 



April 28.— Four "Bluebills" (Lesser 

 Scaup Ducks) were shot on the lake 

 yesterday. This morning at 5 a. m. I 

 found a new pair of Red-shouldered 

 Hawks, nesting in a swampy woods 

 near town. The female left the nest as 

 I was passing by, and put up a "holler" 

 fur the male who "cackled" his delight 

 at seeing me take his 3 eggs, which 

 were slightly incubated. The nest was 

 an old one, 50 feet up in a big beech 

 tree, and was lined with the ever pres- 

 ent branches of evergreen, dead leaves, 

 pieces of bark, and all being beautifully 

 flecked with fluttering downy feathers 

 from breast of Hawk. 



