FHE OOLOGIST 



153 



Some Surprises. 



Eggs of our American Cuckoos have 

 been found in tlie nests of other birds, 

 but 1 never expected to have this fact 

 verified by personal experience. Such 

 was the case this spring, however. 

 About eight feet from the ground in the 

 main fork of a maple sapling amid the 

 dense .second growth bordering a big 

 woods I found, on June 2d, a nest of the 

 Wood Thrush, containing four eggs of 

 the Thrush and one of the Black-billed 

 Cuckoo. 



Later. July 16, I met with another 

 surprise in the heart of this big woods. 

 It was a set of seven Redstart's eggs or 

 rather two sets in one nest. One fe- 

 male was on the nest and the other close 

 beside it. They were equally demon- 

 strative of anxiety as I ascended the 

 tree. The eggs were in two layers and 

 all slightly incubated. Being of two 

 distinct types there was no difficulty in 

 separating them into sets of three and 

 four. Now comes the question, are all 

 the eegs found in a nest one set when 

 you know they are laid by two birds? 

 I do, not consider them so. Instances 

 of two Terns or Gallinules sharing the 

 same nest are of almost yearly occur- 

 ence here, but it rarely happens with 

 the land birds. 



Up to this year I found the Rough- 

 winged Swallows breeding in single 

 pairs only, but on the 30th of last May 

 I discpvered a small colony. Their bur- 

 rows were in the perpendicular face of 

 a gravel pit and about a quarter of a 

 mile from water. The colony consisted 

 of eight pair together, with two pair of 

 Bank swallows and one of English Spar- 

 rows— all within a space of thirty feet. 



Perhaps the greatest surprise of the 

 season occured on May 9th at a Great 

 Blue Herony, consisting of seventy-two 

 nests and all occupied. I was high up 

 in a large elm scooping eggs into a net 

 attached to a long pole. Glancing into 

 a neighboring tree I beheld a Red-tailed 



Hawk upon her nest. Climbed the tree 

 later and secured her two eggs. She 

 had taken possession of a Heron's nest 

 and warmly lined it with corn husks, 

 bark fiber, moss, dead leaves and a few 

 feathers. It was situated amid the top- 

 most branches of an ash tree and as our 

 tape line was only 100 feet in length, I 

 am uncertain of the height, but judge it 

 at 113 feet. The remaining two nests 

 in the tree contained Heron's eggs. 



For some unknown reason the Red- 

 shouldered Hawks laid larger sets this 

 season. Our take consisted of three 

 sets of three, thirteen of tour and one 

 of five. Most seasons three is the usual 

 number per set. We secured second 

 sets from most of the above, consisting 

 of two eggs in every case. 



The Cooper's that laid four eggs last 

 year also went one better this. 



J. Claire Wood, 

 Detroit, Mich. 



How Some Birds Capture Their Prey. 



(Continued from September Number ) 



Of all the birds which capture their 

 food in mid air, the Swallows are the 

 most entertaining. To be sure, the cap- 

 tured insect is so small that we cannot 

 see it as a rule, but then we may watch 

 the graceful skimmers as they sail about 

 the premises, and we know that at each 

 dash from the course the flyer has bene- 

 fitted the agriculturist by engulfing an 

 insect. Blue-backed Swallows prefer 

 insects which are to be found about the 

 water, and generally skim the surface 

 in their search, while the Martin flies at 

 a greater height and at certain times al- 

 most out of sight. All of the Swallows 

 engulf their prey after the manner of 

 the Nighthawk and Whip-poor-will, but 

 do not capture such large insects as 

 these night fliers. 



The Cedar Waxwing ordinarily de- 

 pends upon a diet of fruit and seeds, 

 but at certain seasons feeds largely upon 

 insects which it catches in the air with 



